Dozens hurt in Southern California commuter train crash into truck

World Today

Firefighters arrive to attend to injured passengers at the scene of a Metrolink accident, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, in Oxnard, Calif. Three cars of a Southern California Metrolink commuter train have derailed and tumbled onto their sides after a collision with a truck on tracks in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Johnny Corona)

OXNARD, California — A Southern California commuter train crashed into a truck and derailed early Tuesday, injuring dozens of people.

Three cars of the Metrolink train tumbled onto their sides in agricultural country 65 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles. Metrolink spokesman Scott Johnson told the Los Angeles Times that at least 30 people were injured.

Television news helicopters showed several firetrucks surrounding the tracks, running parallel to a road and a field. Tarps were lying on the street and firefighters were treating victims.

One toppled car laid with one end on the tracks and another on the street. Another passenger car derailed but didn’t topple, and the locomotive also remained upright.

Little was left of the truck but scorched and mangled wreckage — some debris was in a nearby intersection and some close to the tracks.

Oxnard police Sgt. Denise Shadinger said the crash was reported at 5:44 a.m. and said only that there was an unspecified number of injuries.

Metrolink’s website said the train was on a run from Ventura County to Los Angeles. Calls from The Associated Press seeking comment from the regional rail authority were not immediately returned.

Story compiled from AP reports.