2 members of R&B band Tower of Power struck by train in Oakland
Two members of the Bay Area R&B band Tower of Power were struck by a train Thursday evening in Oakland.
The train struck drummer David Garibaldi and bassist Marc Van Wageningen.
Both men were treated at a local hospital, said Jeremy Westby, a publicist for the band. He described the incident as “an unfortunate accident.”
Tower of Power’s bandleader, Emilio Castillo, said he visited Garibaldi at the hospital Thursday night but wasn’t able to see Van Wageningen because he was in the intensive care unit.
“Dave’s head and face were pretty swollen and bruised but he was lucid and expected to recover,” Castillo said. “Marc came through surgery well; his internal bleeding was stopped and they were waiting for him to stabilize in order to do further testing.”
Doctors were “cautiously optimistic” about Van Wageningen’s recovery, he said.
The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. about a half mile north of Jack London Square station, near the jazz club Yoshi’s, where the band was scheduled to perform on Thursday.
None of the 26 passengers on board were injured, Amtrak officials said. Tracks in the area were temporarily closed but train service resumed about 45 minutes later.
The concert was canceled, and Yoshi’s posted a statement to its social media accounts: “We are deeply affected by this event and share our prayers and thoughts to their families and the Bay Area music community as a whole.”
Tower of Power was founded in Oakland in 1968 as the Motowns, but the group later adopted the new name. Within the 10-person band, four have been members since the beginning, including Garibaldi.
Twitter: @MattHjourno
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UPDATES:
8:30 a.m., Jan. 13: This article was updated with comment from a band member.
7: 45 a.m., Jan. 13: This article was updated with additional details from Amtrak.
This article was originally published at 10:15 p.m., Jan. 12.
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