Update from the Associated Press, 12:23am:
Oakland Fire Department battalion chief Emon Usher says one of the trains was stopped and unloading passengers when the second train ran into it about a speed estimated to be about 15 to 20 miles per hour around 10 p.m.
Usher says most of the injuries were minor, but that several people were taken to local hospitals.
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole described the crash as it as a “low speed” collision between Amtrak’s “San Joaquin,” a train that operates between Bakersfield to Oakland, and the Coast Starlight, a train from Los Angeles to Seattle
He says the wheels of each lead engine went off the track.
From the Oakland Tribune and KTVU:
At least 18 people were injured in a low-speed collision between two Amtrak trains near the Oakland passenger station in Jack London Square late Wednesday.
KTVU-2 reported that the collision occurred at Webster Street and Embarcadero around 10 p.m., and that at least 18 people had minor injuries. A passenger interviewed by the station said the impact was severe enough to jolt people from their seats and to the floor.
Most of the injuries were bumps and bruises, but a Hayward woman told the station that her daughter was sent to the hospital with a broken arm.
“It was an awful jolt,” said Alton Smith, a passenger from Oklahoma who told KTVU he had a sore neck after the crash. “I was sitting down, but I don’t know what would have happened had I been standing up.”
Amtrak officials and Oakland police did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
KTVU said one of the trains was bound for Bakersfield, and the other was coming from Los Angeles. One of the trains was stopped at the station when it was struck by the second train in what initially was described as a “fender-bender.” Read more…
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