Train derails and catches hearth close to San Francisco, inflicting minor accidents and repair disruptions

ORINDA, Calif. — Several folks suffered minor accidents and repair was disrupted when a commuter practice derailed and caught hearth on New Year’s Day within the San Francisco Bay Area, officers mentioned.

The Bay Area Rapid Transit practice had simply left Orinda on its solution to Lafayette round 9 a.m. Monday when the entrance two automobiles went off the monitor, company spokesperson Jim Allison mentioned.

All passengers have been evacuated and hearth crews shortly extinguished flames in two automobiles, he mentioned.

Several passengers have been taken to hospitals with minor accidents, Allison mentioned. The complete variety of folks injured wasn’t instantly identified. The remaining passengers walked again to Orinda Station.

Passenger Enrique Gonzalez mentioned the practice was delayed and when it began shifting once more he heard a “few loud pops” and “saw smoke billowing out in between cars.”

“I was sitting right there at the window and saw the flames shoot up,” he informed the San Francisco Chronicle.

Early indications have been that the derailment occurred at an interlocking part of rail, the place trains can swap from one monitor to a different, Allison mentioned. It wasn’t instantly clear what induced the derailment about 8 miles (13 kilometers) northeast of Oakland.

Officials didn’t instantly say how many individuals have been on the practice when it derailed.

Service was discontinued on a 12-mile stretch of rail between Rockridge and Walnut Creek in each instructions, the Chronicle reported. BART officers mentioned Orinda Station would seemingly be closed for the remainder of the day as crews take away the broken automobiles and examine the tracks.

While the transit system was carrying fewer passengers than standard on New Year’s Day, the disruption will seemingly impression tens of hundreds of individuals, Allison mentioned.

“It’s certainly unfortunate people are stranded on a holiday like this,” he mentioned.