Metrolink Train Kills 3 Pedestrians on Tracks : Tragedy: A girl, her mother and grandfather were apparently taking a shortcut, authorities say. It is the worst fatal accident in two years of operation.

In the largest fatal accident in Metrolink’s two years of service, a little girl, her mother and grandfather were killed by a train in Glendale on Monday as they apparently tried to take a shortcut to visit the girl’s grandmother in a convalescent hospital, authorities said.

The accident occurred shortly after 10 a.m., underneath a car and pedestrian-crossing bridge at 900 Western Ave., just east of the Golden State Freeway.

The victims--Antonio Juan Pina, 79; his daughter, Miylem Blanca Villanueva, 37, and 7-year-old granddaughter, Francis Villanueva--were thrown 100 feet by the 60-m.p.h. train and were killed instantly, authorities said.

“It’s terrible,” said Glendale police spokesman Chahe Keuroghelian.

The deaths brought to nine the number of fatalities caused by Metrolink trains so far this year, and 21 since service started in October, 1992.

According to witnesses and others interviewed by police, the victims were on their way to a nearby hospital and crossed the tracks to save time, instead of going up and over the Western Avenue bridge. It was not known if they saw the train, even though the engineer was urgently sounding his horn, according to Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo.

The father of the youngest victim sprinted to the scene from his job nearby after learning from co-workers that three people had been killed on the tracks. Once there, he was faced with the task of identifying the bodies.

“He knew that his family members were going to visit grandma around that time of day, and came to the scene to get further information,” Keuroghelian said, adding that police were not releasing the man’s name. “He was shocked. In disbelief . . . he has lost most of his family.”

The father has another daughter, who is about 10, Keuroghelian said.

A neighbor of the Villanueva family, Catalina Nuno, said they frequently crossed the tracks because that was the quickest route to the nearest bus stop.

“Everyone we know does it,” said Nuno. “I’m just sad. They were real good.”

After the collision, which attracted onlookers from nearby commercial buildings, the 22 passengers aboard the train were transferred to an Amtrak train that was also headed to Downtown Los Angeles.

Throughout Monday, Glendale police interviewed witnesses, and Metrolink authorities said they would be conducting their own inquiry to see if any safety measures were overlooked.

Just before the accident, the train had left the Burbank station on its trip south from Canyon Country. When the engineer saw the victims, it was too late to stop or slow down, Metrolink authorities said.

“These people came out of nowhere,” Hidalgo said. “They were trying to beat our train and illegally cross the tracks.”

According to Hidalgo, the engineer--whom authorities also declined to identify--was sounding his horn even before he saw the victims on the tracks to warn construction crews in the area. At first sight of the three, he hit his emergency brakes, but it takes the 350-ton train a quarter of a mile to come to a stop when it is moving that fast, Hidalgo said.

Hidalgo defended the actions of the engineer, whom he said was distraught over the deaths and would be offered psychological counseling, as are other engineers involved in fatal collisions.

Hidalgo also reiterated Metrolink’s response to such incidents, many of which have been caused after people wandered onto sections of track that are off limits to the public.

“They were apparently trying to take a shortcut via our tracks,” Hidalgo said. “In their attempt to take the shortcut, it resulted in this fatality.

“What is important to know here is that our tracks are private property. It is a restricted area,” he said.

The incident did not occur at a crossing and no warning signs were posted. Although part of the tracks are fenced in to prevent pedestrians from trying to cross, the stretch of track where the victims were hit was not fenced, he said.

Hidalgo said he was basing his description of the moments heading up to the fatal crash on statements that Glendale police took from the engineer and at least one witness, whom he described as “credible,” at the scene.

A few witnesses said another train obstructed the family’s view of the train that killed them, but Hidalgo disputed that account, saying the other train was headed north and had stopped several hundred feet away from the accident’s location.

“There was no way that the pedestrians could not have seen or heard our train coming,” he said.