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Train Derails, Dozens Hurt in S. Calif.

Posted on: Friday, 20 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

A runaway freight train derailed Friday, sending its load of lumber crashing into trackside homes and injuring at least a dozen people, authorities said.

Rescuers were searching the wreckage of three homes and the debris for others possibly trapped.

The freight cars got loose during a switching operation and began speeding toward downtown Los Angeles, said Union Pacific spokesman John Bromely.

"The cars ran away free on their own," he told KNBC-TV.

Workers tried to reroute the train onto a side track, but the cars derailed in Commerce, a largely industrial community east of Los Angeles.

Eighteen cars went off the track and piled up beneath a mound of lumber that spread over a wide area, including on top of neighboring buildings.

One person had moderate injuries and 11 others had minor injuries, said Los Angeles County fire spokesman Albert Flores. Firefighters were continuing to search the debris.

There was no fire and no hazardous materials threat from the train, Flores said.

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