Train Hits Car, Derails Near Sacramento

An Amtrak passenger train bound from Sacramento to Oakland with about 60 people aboard collided with a car at a rail crossing near here Wednesday night, catching fire, derailing and causing several minor injuries, authorities said.

California Highway Patrol Officer Dennis Dugger said the train, made up of an engine and four cars, hit a Cadillac that had stalled on the tracks about 100 feet from a nearby road. The driver apparently tried to make a left turn on another road but ended up on the tracks, he said.

Four ambulances were dispatched to the scene, about 12 miles west of Sacramento, after the 6:10 p.m. accident, authorities said.

Witnesses said the westbound train was still upright after jumping the tracks. The car’s driver was taken into custody after a struggle and taken to a Sacramento hospital for evaluation, investigators said.