Blue Line Kills Elder & Critically Injures Teenager on Same Day in Separate Accidents

L.B. Woman, 75, Dies After Her Car Struck by Blue Line Train

Long Beach Press-Telegram
Kelly Puente
April 7, 2008

LONG BEACH - A 75-year-old Long Beach woman was killed in a car accident on Monday after she allegedly made an illegal left-hand turn in her vehicle and collided with a Metro Blue Line train. The woman was driving southbound on Long Beach Boulevard at about 1:15 p.m. when she attempted to make an illegal left-hand turn onto Third Street, which is a one-way street, said Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman Nancy Pratt.

A train heading south on the boulevard plowed into the driver's side of her green Toyota sedan. Pratt said the woman suffered major internal injuries from the impact. Capt. Mike DuRee of the Long Beach Fire Department said the victim was unconscious and having trouble breathing when paramedics arrived. She was transported to St. Mary Medical Center, where she died a short time later. Her name was released Monday pending notification of family.

Witnesses said it looked as if the woman had not been paying attention. "I was standing on the corner (of Long Beach Boulevard and Third) talking on my phone when I heard the bang," said witness Andreas Hernandez. "You could feel the force of the impact through the air."

Authorities had closed off Long Beach Boulevard from Broadway to Fourth Street as they investigated the accident scene and passengers on the train were being let off. Signal Hill resident Belinda Maxin was on the train when she felt the the conductor slam on the brakes suddenly. Maxin, like many passengers, had to walk the rest of the way to the bus and train stations on First Street.

The incident was the second involving a Metro train on Monday. A young man apparently struck by a Metro Blue Line train south of downtown Los Angeles was taken to a hospital in critical condition, authorities said. Paramedics sent to Grand Avenue and Washington Boulevard about 8:30 a.m. found the man lying next to the train, which had stopped, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. The man was treated for head, arm and pelvis injuries, Humphrey said.

kelly.puente@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1305. City News Service contributed to this report.

Also:

• LAist reports the young man critically injured a 19-year old Trade Tech student
  

Blue Line Kills 20 year old on Washington Blvd

Blue Line Train Involved in Fatality
20-year-old Female Run Over

KABC-TV
April 14, 2007

LOS ANGELES - A young woman was fatally run over by a Blue Line train on the south side of downtown Saturday, a fire official said.

Paramedics were sent to the 1800 block of South San Pedro Street at 12:28 p.m., said Los Angeles city fire spokesperson d'Lisa Davies.

The Long Beach-bound light-rail train was unable to stop before striking 20-year-old Maxmiliana Gomez. The Blue Line driver stated that a group of three -- two males and Gomez -- attempted to run across the tracks in front of the train. The young woman was unsuccessful in her attempt and she was declared dead at the scene.

"Maxi Force Airbags" were used to extricate the body from underneath the train, which took an hour.

The accident delayed service on the downtown-to-Long-Beach line.

Blue Line Injures 21 Year Old Motorist

2 Injured When Car Hits Train

Los Angeles Times
Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2002

A 21-year-old driver and her passenger were injured Saturday when she drove through a lowered railroad crossing barrier and into the path of a Metro Blue Line train in Long Beach, police said.

It was the second serious incident in as many days involving a Blue Line train.

Three people on board the train, including the operator, received minor injuries in the 6:30 a.m. incident.

Police identified the driver as Elena Taofi of Long Beach. She was reported in fair condition Saturday night at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.

Her passenger, Faamu Lufi Sao, also of Long Beach, was in fair condition at the same hospital, where he was being treated for severe head injuries and a broken pelvis.

Long Beach officers investigating the incident said Taofi was driving a 1997 Nissan Altima west on Wardlow Road when she smashed through the lowered railroad crossing arm at Pacific Avenue, breaking it off its base.
A southbound train entering the crossing struck the car.

Train operator Rosie Haynes, 51, was treated at a local hospital clinic for a shoulder injury.

Two of the roughly 50 train passengers also sustained minor injuries and were treated at the scene, police said.

Just one day before, a 16-year-old girl was struck and killed by a Blue Line train south of downtown Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office on Saturday identified her as Angela Barahona of Los Angeles.

Witnesses told Los Angeles police that the girl was walking across the street against a red light when she was hit by a southbound train on East Washington Boulevard.

She died at the scene.

Blue Line Kills 25 Year Old at Vernon Station

Man Struck by Blue Line Train Is Critically Hurt

Los Angeles Times
July 20, 2001

A 25-year-old man was critically injured Thursday after being struck by a Blue Line train in South Los Angeles, authorities said.

The incident occurred in the 4400 block of South Long Beach Avenue about 5:10 p.m., said Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells. He was taken to California Hospital in “very, very critical condition” with massive head and chest injuries, Wells said.

Blue Line at 5 mph Traps Compton Motorist in Wreckage

Driver Hospitalized in Crash With Train
Blue Line: Man is trapped in wreck for two hours after driving around crossing barriers

Los Angeles Times
By Doug Shuit
December 11, 1997

Rescuers worked for nearly two hours Wednesday to free a motorist trapped in the crumpled wreckage of his auto after it was hit by a Blue Line train as he tried to beat it through an intersection in Compton, authorities said.

The Los Angeles-bound commuter train was traveling at 5 mph when it struck a compact car driven by Ricardo Gonzalez, 25, of Lynwood, dragging the vehicle about 20 feet before stopping near a rail station at Compton Boulevard and Willowbrook Avenue. The auto came to rest wedged between the train and a train signal pole.

The wreckage was so tangled that Compton firefighters had to struggle for almost two hours to free Gonzalez after the 3:59 p.m. accident. He was immobile for a time, but could communicate with firefighters, who used hydraulic tools to cut him free.

Police said Gonzalez, who was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, suffered fractured legs in the accident. One of the estimated 200 passengers aboard the Blue Line train was slightly injured.

Gonzalez was headed west on Compton when he drove around the crossing barriers and was hit by the commuter train, authorities said.

"This accident didn't need to occur," Compton Police Capt. Steven Roller said, noting that the warning lights at the intersection were in working order.

Jesse J. Diaz, a manager with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the Blue Line, said: "Everybody has to understand that trains do not stop quickly, even at a slow rate of speed. Cars are no match for these trains."

An MTA spokeswoman said the situation was complicated by a Union Pacific freight train that was partially blocking the intersection at the time the Blue Line train approached. Several motorists grew impatient with the delay caused by the freight train and drove around the crossing barriers, MTA spokeswoman Marion MacKenzie said.

Gonzalez also tried to do this, but was hit by the commuter train, she said.

The accident not only snarled vehicular traffic in the area but also disrupted rail traffic, delaying Blue Line trains for several hours. MTA officials estimated that the train sustained $100,000 in damage.

Roller said Gonzalez could be cited for going into the intersection after the crossing barriers were lowered. A fine could range as high as $300.

Times staff writer George Ramos contributed to this story.

Blue Line Accident in Willowbrook

2 Men in Stolen Car Die in Collision With Train

Los Angeles Times
Nieson Himmel
May 19, 1993

LOS ANGELES - Two men in a stolen car were killed and four passengers on a Blue Line train suffered minor injuries Tuesday when the car went past a lowered crossing gate and collided with the train in Willowbrook, officials said.

County fire officials said one man died at the scene and the second, who had to be extricated with emergency equipment, died at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. The engine of the northbound commuter train had to be lifted off the stolen blue car before the man could be removed.

"The car was dragged 300 feet after the impact," said Charlotte Kramer, supervising dispatcher for the Fire Department. "The chief at the scene told us the car had been stolen."

The dead men were said to be in their mid-20s; no further identification was available Tuesday night.

About 100 people were aboard the two-car train. Northbound Blue Line trains were delayed for half an hour, then resumed their 22-mile runs on the second track after the 7:30 p.m. crash at Stockwell Street and Willowbrook Avenue.

The injured passengers were treated at the medical center and released.

Since it began operating in July, 1990, the Blue Line has been plagued by accidents resulting from cars being driven around crossing barriers. As of January, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had counted 148 Blue Line accidents, with 12 fatalities: nine motorists and three pedestrians.

Blue Line Kills 21 Year Old

Driver Killed, Passenger Injured in Car Hit by Blue Line Train

Los Angeles Times
By David Ferrell
September 13, 1992

One man was killed and another critically injured when a car swerved around a closed crossing gate and was crushed by an oncoming Metro Blue Line train Saturday in South Los Angeles, authorities said.

Vina Kim, 21, whose car sped around a crossing gate at 55th Street and Long Beach Avenue West, was killed as the southbound train knocked his 1984 Nissan into a metal power pole, witnesses and family members said.

The passenger in the car, whose name was not immediately available, had to be removed from the crushed car by firefighters and was reported in critical condition at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

The incident, shortly after 3 p.m., was believed to be the seventh fatal accident involving the 22-mile Blue Line route since it opened in July, 1990. Most of the fatalities, according to police, have involved drivers or pedestrians ignoring warning signs or crossing gates.

Heng Loeum, 19, a friend of Kim's who had been following in a separate car, said Kim's car was the second of three traveling in a caravan south on Long Beach Avenue West, a street running parallel to the Blue Line tracks, just before the accident.

As the cars reached a stop sign before turning east across the tracks onto 55th Street, Loeum said, two northbound trains were approaching from ahead of them. When the first train passed, the driver in the lead automobile skirted the closed crossing gate and made the left turn before the second train arrived. Kim, thinking he could make the same turn ahead of the northbound train, also drove around the closed gate, Loeum said.

Apparently, Kim did not see or hear the southbound Blue Line train that was roaring up from behind, Loeum said. That train struck Kim's car and it hurtled about 40 yards off the tracks and into the power pole, where it caught fire.

"Even me, I didn't see the train coming from the left . . . I didn't hear it," Loeum said. "If (Kim) had passed (through the intersection safely), I would have gone."

Loeum said he pulled over and made unsuccessful attempts to free the driver and passenger from the twisted wreckage before running to telephone police.

Before police arrived, Loeum said, about 15 bystanders attempted to help those in the car.