Train crash injures 18 people in California
By
Samuel Gardner III, CNN
updated 9:17 AM EST, Thu October 13, 2011
A collision between two Amtrak trains in Oakland, California, left 18 people injured.
A moving Amtrak train rammed into a stationary one in northern California, injuring 18 people, officials said early Thursday.Seven of those injured were taken to local hospitals and 11 were treated at the scene, according to Batallion Chief Emon Usher of the Oakland, California Fire Department.
Authorities did not release the conditions of the injured passengers.
Usher said the accident happened just before 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Oakland Jack London Square Amtrak Station.
One train was stationary and its passengers loading and unloading when it was struck by a second train, an Amtrak official said.
The moving train was traveling between 15 and 25 mph, and ran a red signal before the collision, officials said. The injured passengers were in both trains.
A platform and a railway at the station were damaged, but both trains remained upright.
Amtrak officials are investigating, along with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Rail Agency.