Alameda County fire officials said a few other people had minor injuries but were treated at the scene.
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Sunol Update: all passengers have been removed from derailed train & are being assessed.
At least nine people are injured after a commuter train derailed in California Monday evening.
Ray Kelly said nine people were injured, including four seriously.
Because of the remote location of the crash, uninjured passengers had to walk a half mile along a fire trail before getting shuttled to the ACE parking lot in Pleasanton, which was the next stop the train was scheduled to make.
The derailment was announced on Twitter by ACE at 7:46 p.m. Alameda County firefighters responded to the 5500 block of Niles Canyon Road, according to a dispatcher. The second auto derailed but stayed upright.
Some people who were trapped broke windows to escape while crew from several different emergency services worked to free the remaining passengers. Leonard Ramos said his wife, Marylou, was on the train going home to Tracy from her job at Ernst & Young in San Jose.
One of the Bay Area’s smaller transit lines, the ACE train serves passengers traveling from parts of the Central Valley to the East Bay and Bay Area.
Investigators were out at the site of the derailment all night trying to figure out exactly what happened and will begin clearing the tracks Tuesday, starting with the back of the train.
Kelly says it was a miracle that no one was killed given the dark, rainy and very chaotic conditions.
Rescue crews had to fight the creek’s fast-moving currents Monday night to pull riders to safety from the partially-submerged rail auto.
Passengers were evacuated and checked by paramedics.
According to Steve Walker, a spokesman for Altamont Corridor Express, the lead vehicle on the train derailed and ended up in the Alameda creek after the initial crash.
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“It is not confirmed yet but it may have been a mudslide”, Walker said.
