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An Amtrak train crashed and derailed when it was slammed by a big-rig in Hanford. More than 40 people were hurt. (Photo: San Jose Mercury News)

Hanford train crash: Some 39 passengers were injured Monday when a big-rig plowed through a railroad crossing in Hanford and slammed into an Amtrak train. The train derailed.

•   An Amtrak train with 169 passengers aboard was passing through a crossing.

•   The crossing arms were down, the lights were flashing, and bells were sounding.

•   A big-rig plowed through the gate and slammed into the train, causing it to derail. 39 passengers were injured. 

•   The truck driver suffered a head injury and was hospitalized. Investigators didn’t yet know why he crashed through the gate.

The big-rig crash occurred at about 12:15 p.m., according tn article in the Hanford Sentinel.

The truck, a 2000 Freightliner, was driven by 42-year-old Macario Medina of McFarland, the Fresno Bee reported.

California Highway Patrol Officer Jerry Pierce said the crossing arms were down and the train was partially through the intersection at Kansas and 10th avenues when the big-rig plowed through the gate.

Lights were flashing and bells were ringing as the big-rig slammed into the four-car train between the locomotive and the last car.

The train traveled about 600 feet, where it hit a switchback and derailed, the CHP said. The locomotive and two double-deck cars toppled over (see photo) and passengers had to grab seat backs and tables to try to keep from falling.

“It was scary. Everybody was tossed around,” passenger Andrea King of Sacramento told the Hanford Sentinel. “We didn’t know if anybody was going to make it out.”

Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham told KTVU News said 39 people were injured in the crash. The injuries range from minor to moderate. Graham said at least one person suffered a broken leg.

Investigators were still trying to determine why Medina, the truck driver, did not stop at the crossing. He was pinned inside his shattered cab for about an hour and suffered a head injury, according to the Fresno Bee report. Paramedics transported him via ground ambulance to a hospital. Pierce said CHP officers had not interviewed him as of Tuesday morning.

The train originated in Oakland and was headed for Bakersfield, Graham said. Passengers who were not hospitalized were taken to the Hanford Civic Auditorium and were eventually taken by charter bus to destinations in Corcoran, Wasco, and Bakersfield.

Hanford Train Crash Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented truck accident and train crash victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Six people were injured in a train crash in Tulare County. (Photo: KMPH News)

Six people were injured Wednesday when an Amtrak passenger train crashed into a big-rig in Alpaugh, halfway between Visalia and Bakersfield.

•   A truck driver stopped at a stop sign just past a railroad crossing and didn’t realize his trailer wasn’t clear of the tracks.

•   An Amtrak passenger train slammed into the trailer, pushing it several hundred feet down the tracks.

•   The truck spilled 45,000 pounds of potassium chloride.

•   The train engineer was hospitalized with a back injury. 

The accident occurred just before 11 a.m., according to a report in the Visalia Times-Delta.

A big-rig carrying 45,000 pounds of non-toxic potassium chloride was traveling eastbound on Avenue 56 just before the accident. The driver stopped at a stop sign just beyond the tracks at Highway 43.

The tractor was past the crossing but the driver apparently did not realize that part of the trailer was still on the tracks, Tulare County fire captain Larry Stucker said.

A northbound Amtrak passenger train with 84 passengers on board came barreling down the tracks toward the big-rig. The train’s engineer saw the trailer on the tracks and blasted his horn to warn the driver. The driver did not move, ostensibly because he thought his rig was clear of the tracks.

The train slammed into the truck, pushing the trailer several hundred feet, according to an ABC News report. The entire load of potassium chloride was spilled all over the roadway.

News reports didn’t agree on how many people suffered minor injuries in the accident. Some reports indicated that as few as two people were injured, while other accounts stated that six were hurt.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told ABC News the train’s engineer was taken to a hospital to be treated for a possible back injury. The truck driver did not report any injuries.

Both the truck and the train were damaged. Passengers were taken by bus to Wasco, where they boarded another northbound train.

Officials closed the road to investigate and clean the chemical spill. California Highway Patrol officer Tom Nevarez said some of the bags were intact on the pallets. Workers were lifting the pallets and cleaning those bags. The rest of the powdery mess had to be scooped up and taken off of the roadway.

The CHP reopened the road shortly before 2:30 p.m., Neverez said.

The accident remains under investigation.

Tulare County Train Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented train accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Firefighters worked diligently to rescue a puppy (inset) after a train crashed into a pickup truck in Fresno County. (Photos: Fresno Bee | ABC News)

Firefighters rescued a man and his puppy Tuesday after a train crashed into their pickup truck west of Fresno.

•   A pickup truck driver failed to stop at a railroad crossing and was slammed by a freight train.

•   The driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, but his 4-month-old puppy was trapped in the truck.

•   Firefighters worked for 45 minutes to free the injured puppy, using the Jaws of Life.

•  The puppy had surgery for a broken leg but will need more treatment. An account was established to help pay his vet bills.

The accident occured at about 10:20 a.m., according to a report in the Fresno Bee.

The California Highway Patrol said that 47-year-old Jose Cazares was driving a white 2004 Ford F-150 pickup truck southbound on Hayes Avenue, near Belmont Avenue, when he failed to stop at the railroad crossing.

The engineer of an eastbound freight train –  43-year-old Sal Juarez — saw Cazares’ truck and sounded the air horn, but could not avoid hitting the vehicle.

The train slammed into the truck, pushing it about 500 feet. The truck was crushed and Cazares was trapped inside.

“I thought we were going to be calling the coroner on this call,” Fresno Fire Department Battalion Chief Tony Escobedo told KMPH News. “But I’m glad we didn’t.”

Firefighters were able to extricate Cazares. Miraculously, he suffered only minor injuries. Paramedics took him to Community Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released, a hospital spokesperson said.

But Cazares wasn’t the only one trapped in the truck.  His 4-month-old bull mastiff puppy, Zeus, was pinned inside, injured and frightened.

Firefighters mounted a diligent rescue that took more than 45 minutes and involved literally tearing the truck apart with the Jaws of Life. It was a very delicate and difficult operation because the aluminum frame of the truck was wrapped around the puppy’s body, Escobedo said.

The rescue was a success. Firefighters freed Zeus from the truck and took him to the Veterinary Emergency Service hospital in Fresno, where he underwent surgery for a broken leg, according to a Fresno Bee update.

Zeus was in stable condition and resting comfortably on Wednesday, hospital administrator Janet Heisinger said, but he will need further medical treatment and additional surgery on his leg. Veterinary bills for the puppy will run at least $7,000, Heisinger said.

An “Injured Mastiff Fund” account was established at Bank of the Sierra to help cover the cost of Zeus’s care. The account number is 1901057580. Donations can be made at three Fresno branches — Ingram/Herndon, Shaw across from Fashion Fair, and Sunnyside at Kings Canyon — or at Clovis and Shaw in Clovis.

The train accident remains under investigation.

Fresno Train Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented train accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A man died when his car was struck by a freight train in Placentia. (Photo: KTLA)

A man was killed when a freight train crashed into his car and pushed it about a quarter-mile down the tracks Friday morning in Placentia.

•   A freight train and a Toyota Corolla were traveling the same direction — the train on the tracks and the car on a street that runs parallel to the tracks. 

•   Witnesses said the Toyota turned right and crossed into the train’s path. Police do not yet know if that is accurate.

•   The train crashed into the car and pushed it a quater-mile down the tracks.

•   The driver of the car died at the scene.

The fatal accident occurred shortly before 8 a.m., according to a report in the Orange County Register.

Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn said the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway freight train was traveling east on the tracks when it crashed into a Toyota Corolla near Tustin and Orangethorpe avenues in Anaheim.

Witnesses reported that the Toyota, which had been traveling in the same direction as the train on Orangethorpe Avenue, made a right turn into the train’s path at the Tustin Avenue crossing, Dunn told NBC News.

The Toyota, driven by a man in his 30s, went under the crossing arm and onto the tracks, Dunn said.

After the train struck the Toyota, it pushed the car for almost a quarter-mile down the tracks before coming to a stop near Jefferson Street in Placentia.

“The crash occurred in Anaheim, but the train stopped in Placentia,” Dunn said.

The driver of the car, whose name was withheld by authorities, was pinned inside of his vehicle. He died while firefighters were trying to free him from the car, Orange County fire captain Mark Stone told the Los Angeles Times. Paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

It is not known if the engineer sounded the train’s horn before it crashed into the Toyota. The crossing where the collision occurred is part of a federally designated “quiet zone,” according to the OC Register. It has crossing gates, medians and warning signals designed to prevent crossing accidents. Engineers are not required to sound their horns in quiet zones, unless it is an emergency situation.

Investigators are still trying to determine exactly how the fatal accident happened. Dunn said police do not know if the victim intentionally drove in front of the train. Police are looking into all possibilities, he said.

Firefighters and police from Anaheim, Fullerton and Placentia responded to the accident. Authorities closed Orangethorpe Avenue from Tustin Avenue to Jefferson Street while emergency crews cleared the scene and police invetsigated the accident.

After the car was removed from the tracks, the train continued on toward it’s destination in Chicago, NBC reported.

Orange County Train Crash Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented train crash victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A truck driver was seriously injured when a train crashed into his big-rig near Goshen. (Photo: Visalia Times-Delta)

A truck driver was hospitalized on Monday after a train crashed into his big-rig and derailed near Goshen, about 35 miles southeast of Fresno.

•  A truck driver did not see a train coming at a rural railroad crossing without lights or guard arms.

•  The train crashed into the truck and pushed it 200 feet. Then the train derailed.

•  The truck driver was hospitalized with a head injury.

•  A young mother was killed at the same crossing in June. Local residents want local officials to do something about the dangerous crossing.

The accident occurred shortly after 3 p.m., according to a report in the Visalia Times-Delta.

California Highway Patrol officer J.R. Leeth Jr. said 25-year-old Victor Valdez was driving the rig for Visalia-based MD Concrete Cutting and Demolition.

The truck, which was hauling a trailer with a with a small skip loader on it, was heading south on Road 60 at about 55 mph when it approached the railroad tracks on Road 60 east of Avenue 30, Leeth said. There are no lights or guard arms at that crossing.

The freight train was heading east at about 20 mph, Leeth said. The truck driver said he did not see the train until the last minute. The engineer said he sounded his horn to warn the truck, but it was too late. Both the train and the truck braked, but neither could stop in time to avoid the collision.

Valdez veered to the left as he braked, hoping to steer out of the train’s path, but the momentum of the heavy truck carried it across the tracks anyway. The train crashed into the truck and pushed it about 200 feet.

The train derailed. There were no passengers aboard. The train was not carrying any hazardous materials, but it leaked about 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Witness Richard Gonzalez was driving a big-rig north on Highway 60 at the time. He and a pickup truck driver who also witnessed the wreck ran over to try to help Valdez.

“He was very bloody. His face was full of blood,” Gonzales said.

The train engineer told Gonzalez he sounded the train’s horn just before the collision, but Gonzalez said he did not hear it. Leeth later said train crew members indicated that they did hear the horn.

Emergency crews responded to the scene and called in helicopters to airlift Valdez to a trauma center. After they further assessed his injuries, however, paramedics decided to take the injured truck driver via ground ambulance to Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia. The nature and extent of his injuries was not known, but an ABC News report indicated that he sustained facial cuts and some sort of head injury.

Dangerous Crossing

Local residents are up in arms about the dangerous railroad crossing where this accident occurred. Diana Huerta, whose daughter Debbie Felix was killed on June 6 when a train crashed into her car at that same crossing, said she was horrified when she heard about Monday’s accident.

“It broke my heart,” Huerta said. “It threw me back to my daughter’s accident, and I instantly started crying.”

[Read more about that accident here: Fresno Train Accident Lawyers | Driver Dies When Car Hit By Train]

Becky Parkins, who lives about a quarter of a mile away, told  ABC News she could hear Monday’s crash from her house.

“(It was) a boom and it scared me to death,” Parkins said. “I was on the phone with my husband and said, ‘oh we’ve had another one down at the tracks’.”

John Escalera, who lives in Goshen, said local residents want officials to do something about the dangerous crossing.

“That’s where a lot of people get hurt because they can’t see,” Escalera told ABC News. “There’s no warning. It is very dangerous, and I’m tired of it. I’m tired of young people getting killed.”

The CHP said there isn’t enough traffic at that crossing to warrant crossing guard arms, but officials told ABC that Road 60 has become an alternative route for drivers because of construction projects on other roads in the Goshen area.

Goshen Train Crash Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented train crash victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A man whose van was crushed by an Amtrak train in Salinas is recovering in a San Jose Hospital. (Photo: Salinas Californian) Click on image to see it larger.

A 65-year-old man is recovering in a San Jose hospital after his van was crushed in an Amtrak train crash Tuesday in Soledad, about 25 miles south of Salinas.

•  A driver attempted to drive his van across the railroad tracks on a private road in Soledad and was broadsided by an oncoming Amtrak train.

•   The van was crushed and pushed into a ditch.

•   The van driver suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to a hospital in San Jose. 

•   There were 155 people on the train. No one on the train was hurt.

The accident occurred at about 2:20 p.m., according to a report in the Monterey Herald.

The California Highway Patrol said Salinas resident Santiago Ramirez was driving a Dodge van westbound on a private road  near Soledad Prison when the crash happened.

Ramirez was continuing on the road across the railroad tracks when a southbound Amtrak passenger train traveling between 50 and 60 mph slammed into the passenger side of the van, according to the Salinas Californian.

The van was completely crushed and pushed into a ditch (see photo).

Ramirez suffered serious injuries and was airlifted by helicopter to San Jose Regional Medical Center, which is 85 miles away by car. The exact nature and extent of the victim’s injuries was not released, but his hospital spokesperson Bev Mikalonis said Wednesday that Ramirez was recovering and was listed in good condition.

There were 155 people on the Amtrak train, including passengers and crew. No one on the train was injured, the CHP said.

The accident is under investigation. Authorities said they did not suspect that drugs or alcohol were involved.

Amtrak Train Crash Statistics

Train accidents are on the rise nationwide. In the five-year period ending in 2006, Amtrak trains were involved in an average of 843 accidents per year, according to data provided by the Federal Railroad Administration. During the past four and a half years — the latest statistics only cover half of 2011 — there have been almost 5,000 Amtrak train crashes, an average of almost 1,000 per year.

In the first six months of 2011 alone, 76 people were killed in Amtrak train crashes and 961 more suffered non-fatal injuries.

Most train accidents that involve collisions with other vehicles — trucks, buses, cars, vans, etc. — occur at railroad track crossings. Sometimes there are functioning crossing gates and flashing lights, but sometimes there is nothing more than a small sign indicating the tracks.

With a train’s massive size and speed, the many passengers on a train, and the large amount of cargo transported by rail, the types of injuries suffered in a train accident can be severe.

California Train Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented train accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

At least 17 passengers were hospitalized in a head-on Amtrak train crash in Oakland. (AP Photos)

At least 17 people were injured Wednesday night during a head-on Amtrak train crash in Oakland.

•   A slow-moving train crashed head-on into another train that was stopped to let passengers on and off the train at a station in Oakland.

•   The moving train is believed to have run a red light. Both lead engines derailed.

•   At least 17 people, including passengers and crew members, were injured. 

The disaster occurred at around 10 p.m., according to a KTVU News report.

Initial news reports estimated that 16 people were injured in the “low-speed collision” in Oakland’s Jack London Square, but Amtrak revised the count after compiling numbers overnight, company spokesman Cliff Cole said Thursday morning.

Oakland Fire Department battalion chief Emon Usher said Amtrak’s San Joaquin train, which runs between Bakersfield and Oakland, collided with the Coast Starlight train that runs from Los Angeles to Seattle. Both trains derailed, in that the wheels on their lead engines went off the track.

It appears that the Coast Starlight — which was traveling at 15 to 20 mph – crashed into the San Joaquin, which was stopped at the station near Webster Street and Embarcadero to allow passengers to get on or off the train. Usher said company officials told him the Coast Starlight ran a red light.

“According to the Amtrak representative, the train traveling should have never continued past the red signal,” Usher told the Associated Press in a report published in the Oakland Tribune.

The company declined to comment on the report of the train running a red light.

Alton Smith, a passenger on one of the trains, told KTVU he felt an “awful jolt” from the impact. Miesha Anderson told CBS News she heard a “big bang, like a bomb.” She said she thought a forklift had hit the train.

“We didn’t even think that another train had hit the train,” Anderson said.

Cole said ”several” people, including passengers and crew members, suffered injuries he described as minor.

“None of them are considered to be life-threatening,” Cole said.

About 45 emergency personnel responded to the scene. Fire officials said some of the victims were deliberately immobilized by emergency medical personnel as a precaution in case of spinal injuries. One person suffered a broken arm. Some were suspected to have neck injuries. There are several conflicting reports as to how many people were hospitalized.

Service was stopped at the station, although Amtrak did offer bus service to some passengers, according to some reports. As much as two hours after the crash, about 50 passengers were still gathered inside the train terminal while Amtrak and local officials inspected the two trains.

Amtrak and Union Pacific Freight Railroad, which owns the tracks, are cooperating with federal officials in the crash investigation.

This was the second Amtrak injury accident in the Bay Area in the past two weeks. On September 30, a train crashed into a truck in Brentwood. The accident occurred at a crossing where there were no lights or gates. Two crew members and 37 passengers suffered minor to moderate injuries in that train crash.

Here are more photos from the crash. Click on the thumbnail to see the image full-size:

Oakland Train Crash Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorneyClifford Blackman, have successfully represented train crash victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A Union Pacific train hauling dangerous chemicals derailed in Littlerock, near Palmdale. (Photo: KTLA News) Click photo to see it larger.

Residents were allowed to return to their homes Thursday after being evacuated Wednesday afternoon when a hazmat train derailed near Palmdale.

•   580 homes were evacuated Wednesday after a Union Pacific cargo train derailed near Palmdale.

•   21 cars overturned; 14 of those were thought to be hazmat tankers.

•   Cars were uprighted Thursday; no toxic chemicals were spilled.

The train accident occurred at about 1:25 p.m. on Wednesday, according to a KTLA News report. The 68-car Union Pacific cargo train was heading south to Colton when it derailed near the intersection of 92nd Street and Avenue T in Littlerock, about 10 miles southeast of Palmdale.

Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said 21 of the cars derailed and 14 of those were tankers that often carry hazardous materials or liquid.

Union Pacific officials later said the train had only six such cars. They said all of those cars were empty, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

Fire inspector Matt Levesque said toxic residue that remains in such tank cars could have spilled, so the evacuation was necessary.

“Even after they’re empty, they can still carry quite a bit of material left in the bottom,” Levesque told the Times. “Small quantities can still cause some reason for concern.”

A hazmat team that inspected the empty cars found residual chlorine and hydrogen fluoride, according to a news story filed by the Associated Press. Los Angeles County fire inspector Don Kunitomi told the AP that experts found no leaks or spills, however.

The hazmat tank cars were designed to withstand a derailment at speeds up to 60 mph, county fire deputy chief Mike Metro said. The wheels come off on one side of the track and the tanks fall down the other side.

Union Pacific and fire crews reportedly worked through the night to upright the overturned cars. Local authorities removed the evacuation order at about 3 a.m., according to the AP report.

The cause of the derailment is still unknown. No injuries were reported. The accident remains under investigation.

Littlerock is at the northern base of the San Gabriel Mountains, which separate the Mojave Desert from the metropolitan Los Angeles area.

Here are photos of Wednesday’s train derailment near Palmdale. Click on each thumbnail to see the photo full-size.

Palmdale Train Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented train accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.