GLENDALE, California, Jan 27 (AFP) - A suicidal man who later had a change of heart, jumping from his car just before it was struck by a train, has been charged with murder and may face the death penalty in the crash that killed 11 people and injured 183 others, officials said Thursday.
Authorities intend to seek 11 counts of murder against Juan Manuel Alvarez, 25, who was unhurt and taken into custody, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley told US media.
"The Glendale police department did a remarkably good job collecting evidence that relates to connecting Mr. Alvarez to this offense and suggests his intentions to commit this offense by causing a train wreck. The facts are pretty self-evident to us," Cooley said.
Asked whether Alvarez intended to derail a train and kill other people, Cooley replied: "Well, the train's been derailed; it was his car that caused the derailment. He certainly intended to commit the act of train derailment.
"Under California law, committing that act alone, whether he intended to kill anyone on the train or not, can lead to murder charges," he said.
Eleven people were killed and 183 were injured Wednesday when two commuter trains slammed into each other in the Los Angeles area after the driver abandoned his car on the tracks, police said.
A murder investigation was launched as the death toll rose following the horrific early-morning crash involving three trains and a sport-utility vehicle in the heavily populated suburb of Glendale.
Thursday, rescuers were still sifting through the tangled wreckage of the trains that collided with an explosive crash just after 6:00 am (1400 GMT) on Wednesday, CNN television reported.
The accident occurred after one of the trains jumped its rails after ploughing into the abandoned vehicle left on the tracks.
Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams said Alvarez was on suicide watch but that he had been talking to detectives in the homicide investigation.
"He has been cooperative and he has talked to our investigators," Adams said, adding that "his demeanor is distraught, remorseful, but cooperative."
The driver allegedly manuevered his Jeep onto the tracks, where it became stuck, and waited for a train to end his life, according to Adams and other police officials.
"He was intent at that time on taking his own life but changed his mind," Adams told reporters.
"He exited the vehicle and stood by as a southbound Metrolink train struck his vehicle, causing the train to derail and strike the northbound train," the police chief said.
After hitting the car, the packed rush-hour train, which was bound for Los Angeles's Union Station, jumped its tracks and jack-knifed into the path of an oncoming commuter train heading in the opposite direction.
One of the stricken trains then side-swiped a stationary freight train that was parked on a side track in the area, knocking it over, officials said.
"It sounded like thunder," said Karen Mendoza, an employee at a nearby wholesale store who called emergency services when she heard the accident.
Some passengers had to be cut from the wreckage, which was strewn over a wide area, while others were forced to jump to safety from the burning upper decks of railway carriages that caught fire in the impact.
At least 89 people were rushed to the hospital as hundreds of rescuers and convoys of ambulances flooded the crash scene.
Some 200 people, mostly walking injured, were examined by medical staff at the scene as they prioritized treatment for the wounded, firefighters said.
01/27/2005 17:25 GMT - AFP