'Total destruction': At least 17 die in head-on Metrolink crash

Rescue teams worked frantically into this morning after a Metrolink passenger train carrying 225 people collided Friday with a Union Pacific freight train on a sharp curve in Chatsworth, killing at least 17 people and leaving more than 135 injured. It was one of the worst train crashes in Southern California history and Metrolink officials said they could not explain why warning systems failed to prevent such a catastrophic collision.

By Joel Rubin, Ann M. Simmons and Mitchell Landsberg

September 13, 2008