An Altamont Corridor Express train with more than 200 passengers aboard struck a downed tree and derailed Monday night during a heavy downpour, injuring nine as one of its rail cars tumbled into a rain-swollen creek.
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The Alameda County Fire Department is now saying just nine people were injured when their commuter train derailed.
Rescuers battled the creek’s fast-moving currents Monday night to pull riders to safety, Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said.
CBS San Francisco, citing train operator officials, reported that the derailment was caused by a tree on the tracks.
In frantic phone calls to loved ones after the crash, passengers described the chaos, as the train spilled over an embankment sending bodies flying and crashing into glass. Arun Soman, 38, of Pleasanton, saw the auto in front of him hanging off the tracks as as well the one submerged.
“It is absolutely a miracle that nobody was killed”, Kelly said.
“We were all just panicking”, Akhter, who waited wrapped in a blanket for a ride home, told San Jose television station KNTV.
A train derailed and one train auto crashed into a Sunol creek Monday evening.
Images posted on Twitter by Alameda County Fire Department show the first rail auto on its side half-submerged in the water.
He said three more cars behind, including the locomotive, stayed on the tracks.
Officials say the train company has sent buses to take passengers of a derailed train to their destination.
Passengers were evacuated and checked by paramedics.
Multiple agencies, including the Fremont Police Department and Alameda County Fire Department responded to the scene.
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According to the ACE’s website, the train departed San Jose at 6:38 p.m. local time and was due to arrive in Stockton at 8:50 p.m. local time. The ACE 10 travels from San Jose to Stockton with a number of stops including Livermore, Tracy and Lathrop/Manteca.
