2 Jump From Car Before Train Hits

Two men narrowly escaped serious injury Monday when they bolted from their car just seconds before it was rammed by an oncoming Amtrak passenger train, officials said.

The Nissan 240SX was stopped at a crossing gate in the 6800 block of Vineland Avenue about 4 p.m. when it was rear-ended by a pickup truck, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

The crash knocked the Nissan through the lowered gate and onto the tracks, into the path of the San Diegan from Santa Barbara, which was traveling at 60 m.p.h. and carrying 230 passengers, according to an Amtrak spokeswoman. The auto’s passengers abandoned the car and fled as the train hit it, Humphrey said.

None of the train passengers was injured, Humphrey said. One of the passengers of the Nissan and the 36-year-old driver of the pickup truck were taken to St. Joseph Medical Center with neck and back pains and a lip cut, Humphrey said.

The train, which was not damaged, was delayed about 40 minutes.