At least 10 dead in train collision in US

Train collision kills 10 people in US

At least 10 people were killed and hundreds hurt in a multi train crash Wednesday morning near downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.

The crash occurred at about 6 a.m. local time when a southboundcommuter train struck a vehicle, derailed and then crashed into a northbound commuter train just outside Los Angeles.

Fire and police officials said the crash was caused by a suicide-bent motorist who got his Jeep Cherokee stuck on a stretchof track,then changed his mind about taking his life and fled fromthe vehicle.

According to initial accounts, a southbound Metrolink commuter train from Ventura County struck the Jeep and caromed into a stationary freight train locomotive. As it came apart, the southbound train then struck part of a northbound Metrolink commuter train from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

Authorities were launching a criminal investigation into the cause of the crash. The driver, identified as 26-year-old Juan Manuel Alvarez, was taken into custody and faces potential homicide charges, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.

Juan Manuel Alvarez is uninjured in the crash and talking to authorities. Local news reports said he stayed on the scene and watched the deadly crash to happen.

"All the seats fell apart, people were on the ground. It was major havoc," passenger Amir Hami told NBC4, a local TV channel ofthe NBC networks. "I thought maybe we hit a car or something."

Dozens of ambulances rushed to the scene and sent more than 100injured people to local hospitals.