At least 10 dead, 100 hurt in L.A. train crash

LOS ANGELES, Sept 12 (Reuters)

At least 10 people were killed and more than 100 injured on Friday, with those figures expected to rise, after a freight train and commuter train collided head-on outside Los Angeles.

Some four hours after the trains, which were headed in opposite directions on the same track, slammed together west of Los Angeles at about 4:30 p.m. PDT, officials feared that more bodies may lie under the twisted wreckage.

“There are at least 10 confirmed fatalities. Confirmed by the coroner’s office. That number will likely grow because as you know we are still in the rescue phase,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told reporters.

“There are still people that haven’t been extricated,” Villaraigosa said.

The mayor said officials were having a difficult time tallying the number of people injured but that it included dozens and was “probably over 100.”

A city-wide “tactical alert” was called across Los Angeles as rescuers worked into the night to pry the twisted metal apart and reach victims still trapped.