Up to 18 Hurt in California Amtrak Collision

Authorities say 16 people were hurt when two passenger trains collided at the Amtrak station in Oakland, Calif., Thursday night.

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.

Alton Smith, a passenger on one of the trains, told television station KTVU that he felt “an awful jolt” from the impact.

All train traffic has been temporarily suspended at the station.