A 26 year old Hispanic man has been arrested for causing the worst train wreck in Los Angeles history this morning. Juan Manuel Alvarez who was said to be suicidal, parked his Jeep Cherokee on the tracks near the border of the City of Glendale and Los Angeles, very near the Los Angeles Zoo. As he sat in his vehicle waiting for the train, he began to have second thoughts and changed his mind. He exited the car and tried pushing it off the tracks just before the train arrived but was unsuccessful.  10 people have been found dead so far with over 100 injured.  Alvarez has been charged with 10 counts of murder.

This is an area very near the train yard where three parallel tracks run side by side. A Union Pacific freight train was parked on the third track waiting for the commute hours to pass while leaving the tracks available for the Metrolink commuter trains. These trains with usually only 4 or 5 passenger cars, run very fast through this area, perhaps 60 to 80 mph. The southbound Metrolink train loaded with commuters struck the Jeep, pushing it several hundred feet down the track where it struck the parked train causing the Metrolink to derail and buckle. Just about then, the Northbound Metrolink train, also loaded with Commuters, slammed into the derailed southbound train creating the disaster shown in the photos below.