Dozens hurt as commuter train strikes truck in Southern California

WATCH ABOVE: A commuter train on its way to Los Angeles derailed after colliding with a truck on the tracks. Teri Okita reports from Los Angeles.

OXNARD, Calif. – A Southern California commuter train crashed into a truck and derailed early Tuesday, injuring dozens of people.

Three cars of the Metrolink train tumbled onto their sides in agricultural country 100 kilometres northwest of Los Angeles. Metrolink spokesman Scott Johnson told the Los Angeles Times that at least 30 people were injured.

Television news helicopters showed several fire trucks surrounding the tracks, running parallel to a road and a field. Tarps were lying on the street and firefighters were treating victims.

One toppled car laid with one end on the tracks and another on the street. Another passenger car derailed but didn’t topple, and the locomotive also remained upright.

Little was left of the truck but scorched and mangled wreckage – some debris was in a nearby intersection and some close to the tracks.

Oxnard police Sgt. Denise Shadinger said the crash was reported at 5:44 a.m. and said only that there was an unspecified number of injuries.

Metrolink’s website said the train was on a run from Ventura County to Los Angeles. Calls from The Associated Press seeking comment from the regional rail authority were not immediately returned.