LA Train Tragedy: 18 Killed & Dozens Injured!!!!!!!

According to the NYPOST:

UPDATE:
At least 18 people were killed and 100 injured yesterday when a freight
train slammed head on into a packed commuter train outside Los Angeles
during the afternoon rush, authorities said.

The Metrolink train, which was filled with more than 200 passengers,
was heading from downtown LA to Ventura County just before 4:30 p.m.
local time when it collided with the southbound Union Pacific freighter.

Fifteen people were confirmed dead last night, but officials feared
that number could rise to 20, which would make it the deadliest crash
in the history of the commuter railroad.

"This is the worst accident I've ever seen," said Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa said. "Clearly the injuries are going to mount and so are
the fatalities."

Believed to be among the dead are the engineer of the Metrolink train
and a member of the LAPD, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The conductor of the commuter train, who may have been helping people escape, was thought to be alive.

The enormous impact, which sounded "like a bomb," according witness
Julio Pedraza, tore a gaping hole in one of the commuter train's cars,
shoving the locomotive into the car behind it as the train toppled
over, leaving people trapped underneath.

"We have victims on top of victims," said Fire Chief Dennis Barry.

The hulking freight train's engine fell onto its side while the rest of
the crumpled and charred train splayed out like an accordion behind it.
Two people were on board.

One terrified Metrolink passenger watched the horror unfold as the
train rounded a turn on a steep hill near Chatsworth, 30 miles outside
the city.

My first thought was 'I'm not seeing this,' " Albert Cox, 53, told the LA Times.

"And then I knew the train was coming right toward us."

Firefighters yanked the dazed and injured passengers from the burning wreckage.

Rescuers pried the wrecked train cars open with hands and tools and
smashed windows to get to the injured. The scene was described by Fire
Capt. John Virant as "total destruction," according to the Times.

"I was riding, sitting down, minding my own business, when all of a
sudden - boom, people go flying all over the place," Willie Castro, 67,
told the Times. "Everyone started screaming. You could hear that
everyone was in pain."

Another passenger, Paul Thiele, desperately tried to free a man pinned
between some seats, even as people screamed that the locomotive was
about to catch fire.

"He was pleading with me to help him," Thiele told the Times. "I tried
my damnedest to get him out but I just couldn't."