At least 25 dead in LA train wreck

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- The death toll in a Los Angeles train wreck rose to 25 Saturday as officials said the rescue effort has become a recovery effort.

The Friday afternoon rush-hour collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train was blamed on the commuter train engineer, Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrell said. She said the engineer ignored a red light, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"We want to be honest in our appraisal," Tyrrell said Saturday. "Barring any information from the (National Transportation Safety Board), we believe our engineer failed to stop and that was the cause of the accident."

Tyrell said investigators did not know yet why safety measures and controls along the track failed to prevent the collision.

NTSB officials said later in the day they had not reached any conclusions about the cause of the crash, the newspaper said.

"We don't know why the accident happened," NTSB board member Kitty Higgins said. "Our process is to look at everything before we rule anything out."

The commuter train engineer, whose name had not been released, was thought to have died in the crash but Tyrrell couldn't confirm that. She said the engineer was a subcontractor with Veolia Transportation and a former Amtrak employee.

With about 40 of the more than 135 additional injured passengers in critical condition, the death toll was expected to rise.

The worst train wreck in Los Angeles history occurred Jan. 22, 1956, when a Santa Fe train on its way from Los Angeles to San Diego derailed on a curve, killing 30 people and injuring 130.