BebeAphrodite
01-27-2005, 06:19 PM
Yet another example of how selfish suicide is. If you don't want to read the article here it is summed up: Man wanted to commit suicide, parked his SUV on train tracks, changed his mind last minute, crash occured, and 11 people are dead with 180 injured. He didn't consider the welfare of others when he left his SUV on the tracks.
Eleven die in crash
Suicidal man's SUV derails train
By AP
GLENDALE, CALIF. -- A commuter train smashed into an SUV left on a crossing by a suicidal man early yesterday, derailed and crashed into another train, authorities said. At least 11 people were killed and more than 180 injured. The SUV driver changed his mind about suicide and left the vehicle before it was hit, Police Chief Randy Adams said. The man will be charged with homicide, he said.
Cars from both Metrolink trains derailed and some landed on their sides, sending passengers tumbling down the aisles, authorities said.
"This whole incident was started by a deranged individual that was suicidal," Adams told a news conference at the scene of mangled rail cars in the suburb north of downtown Los Angeles.
"I think his intent at that time was to take his own life but he changed his mind prior to the train actually striking this vehicle," the chief said.
The man, identified as Juan Manuel Alvarez, 26, of Compton, stood by as the southbound Metrolink train struck his vehicle, derailed and hit the northbound train, Adams said.
Alvarez had also tried to slash his wrists, authorities said.
In was the worst rail accident in the U.S., since March 15, 1999, when an Amtrak train hit a truck and derailed near Bourbonnais, Ill., killing 11 people and injuring more than 100.
Firefighters picked through twisted wreckage and carried passengers from the trains to a triage centre set up in a parking lot nearby.
One commuter train was headed from Los Angeles' Union Station to downtown Burbank, and the other was bound to Union Station from Moorpark, Metrolink officials said. The accident happened just after 6 a.m. local time.
"I heard a noise. It got louder and louder," said passenger Diane Brady, 56, of Simi Valley. "And next thing I knew the train tilted, everyone was screaming and I held onto a pole for dear life. I held on for what seemed like a week and a half, it seemed. It was a complete nightmare."
Dazed passengers, some limping, gathered at tables in a store nearby, while the injured were sprawled on colour-coded mats in the parking lot: red for severe injuries, green for those less so.
One of the dead passengers was identified as Deputy James Tutino, a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles County sheriff's department.
As the cars tumbled off the tracks, one Metrolink train struck a parked Union Pacific car, tipping it onto its side, said Kathryn Blackwell, a railway spokeswoman in Omaha, Neb.
George Touma, 19, of Burbank, said he was called by his mom, who was on one of the Metrolink trains.
"She told me she was bleeding in the head and her arm was really hurting," said Touma, who was searching for her.
"I'm really worried because she has vertigo and when I tried to call back she wouldn't answer."
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/CalgarySun/News/2005/01/27/911559-sun.html
Eleven die in crash
Suicidal man's SUV derails train
By AP
GLENDALE, CALIF. -- A commuter train smashed into an SUV left on a crossing by a suicidal man early yesterday, derailed and crashed into another train, authorities said. At least 11 people were killed and more than 180 injured. The SUV driver changed his mind about suicide and left the vehicle before it was hit, Police Chief Randy Adams said. The man will be charged with homicide, he said.
Cars from both Metrolink trains derailed and some landed on their sides, sending passengers tumbling down the aisles, authorities said.
"This whole incident was started by a deranged individual that was suicidal," Adams told a news conference at the scene of mangled rail cars in the suburb north of downtown Los Angeles.
"I think his intent at that time was to take his own life but he changed his mind prior to the train actually striking this vehicle," the chief said.
The man, identified as Juan Manuel Alvarez, 26, of Compton, stood by as the southbound Metrolink train struck his vehicle, derailed and hit the northbound train, Adams said.
Alvarez had also tried to slash his wrists, authorities said.
In was the worst rail accident in the U.S., since March 15, 1999, when an Amtrak train hit a truck and derailed near Bourbonnais, Ill., killing 11 people and injuring more than 100.
Firefighters picked through twisted wreckage and carried passengers from the trains to a triage centre set up in a parking lot nearby.
One commuter train was headed from Los Angeles' Union Station to downtown Burbank, and the other was bound to Union Station from Moorpark, Metrolink officials said. The accident happened just after 6 a.m. local time.
"I heard a noise. It got louder and louder," said passenger Diane Brady, 56, of Simi Valley. "And next thing I knew the train tilted, everyone was screaming and I held onto a pole for dear life. I held on for what seemed like a week and a half, it seemed. It was a complete nightmare."
Dazed passengers, some limping, gathered at tables in a store nearby, while the injured were sprawled on colour-coded mats in the parking lot: red for severe injuries, green for those less so.
One of the dead passengers was identified as Deputy James Tutino, a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles County sheriff's department.
As the cars tumbled off the tracks, one Metrolink train struck a parked Union Pacific car, tipping it onto its side, said Kathryn Blackwell, a railway spokeswoman in Omaha, Neb.
George Touma, 19, of Burbank, said he was called by his mom, who was on one of the Metrolink trains.
"She told me she was bleeding in the head and her arm was really hurting," said Touma, who was searching for her.
"I'm really worried because she has vertigo and when I tried to call back she wouldn't answer."
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/CalgarySun/News/2005/01/27/911559-sun.html