Sep 19, 2008 2:00 pm US/Eastern
Light Rail Accident Injures 15 People In L.A.
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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A train collided with a bus in downtown Los Angeles Friday morning, injuring at least 15 people. (File)
CBS
A light rail train slammed into a bus near downtown during Friday morning's commute, injuring at least 15 people, CBS station KCBS-TV reported.
The accident was reported at 6:17 a.m. Friday when a Metro Blue Line train headed to Long Beach carrying passengers collided with an out-of-service bus. As many as two dozen people were hurt, but none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening, Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.
"We had an out-of-service bus turn in front of the train," said Marc Littman, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates both the train and the bus. "We don't know who had the right of way."
The impact knocked the front car of the electric train off the track. The other cars remained on the track. Littman said they were investigating the incident.
Jose Ubaldo of Metro said the Blue Line train was heading south when the accident occurred, and that a "bus bridge" was being arranged to carry rail passengers between the San Pedro and Long Beach Boulevard stations while the track was being cleared.
The crash comes just a week after a Metrolink commuter train smashed into a freight train in the San Fernando Valley, about 30 miles northwest of downtown, killing 25 people and injuring more than 130.
The Blue Line runs on 22 miles of track from downtown to Long Beach, with other routes through Los Angeles County.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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