Doctors Struggle to Save Man Pinned by Train in Santa Ana

Doctors were rushed to the site of a train accident Friday night, when a man pushing a grocery cart across the tracks was struck and pinned beneath the train.

The man, whose identity was not available, was struck just after 9 p.m. by a southbound Amtrak train traveling about 15 to 20 mph, Santa Ana Police Lt. Jose Garcia said.

“The conductor did slow down but obviously was unable to stop,” Garcia said. “We don’t know if the cart got caught in the tracks and we don’t know what it is that did not allow him to clear the track in time.”

A surgeon and anesthesiologist from Western Medical Center-Santa Ana were rushed to the site to amputate the man’s right arm, which was pinned. At the same time, hydraulic rams were moved into place to stabilize the train during the operation.

Authorities then changed their minds and decided to move the train forward to try to free the arm. At 10:20 p.m., they moved the train inches forward, and the man was freed. Authorities said they saved the arm.

He was rushed to Western Medical Center.

Passengers sat in the train as police, firefighters and doctors tended to the fully conscious man from underneath the train.

The train was just past the Santa Ana Amtrak station and had reached the 1000 block of 4th Street when the accident occurred. A crowd of about 25 gathered to watch.

The accident came less than a week after a man in Buena Park was killed by an Amtrak train. That man was walking on tracks at Dale Avenue, south of Malvern Avenue and failed to acknowledge the train. Police consider the death accidental.