Train and Car Crash Injures 21, Driver in Grave Condition

A car moving in the same direction as a Metro Expo Line train cut in front of it to make a turn, causing a horrifying crash, leaving 21 people injured and the driver of the car fighting for his life.

The Daily News reported that the three-car train hit the vehicle just before 11 a.m. at 934 Exposition Boulevard across from the University of Southern California, nearby the Expo/Vermont Station at South Vermont Avenue.  A spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, Shawn Lenske said that the collision caused two of the train cars to derail.

Lenske added that “19 occupants suffered minor injuries, but the driver of the car sustained critical injuries and had to be extricated from the vehicle.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, the 22-mile line connecting downtown Los Angeles with Long Beach has a reputation for being one of the most dangerous and deadly lines in Southern California. Nearly 120 people between 1990 and 2013 have died along the line—31 have been suicides.

Lenske told the News that Firefighters were at the site of the crash and helping the injured commuters.  “We have a unified command,” he said. “We’re working with the Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and USC.”

Ramon Montenegro, from the Sheriff’s Transport Policing Division, stated that, they had tiraged people after the accident and the condition of the driver is still uncertain.”