2 Men Rescued From Car Just Before Train Crash

Bystanders pulled an injured man and his father out of a car that was knocked onto railroad tracks Wednesday moments before a Metrolink train smashed into it at about 80 mph, authorities said.

Ramos Dagoberto, 44, of Van Nuys and Ibara Dagoberto, 63, were in a car on San Fernando Road near Montague Street at 4:45 p.m. when the accident occurred, said Officer Matt Ponce of the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division.

A pickup truck crossed into the car’s lane on San Fernando Road and knocked it into a parked pickup truck, then onto the tracks, Ponce said.

The son had his arm hanging out of the car when the collision with the truck occurred, causing serious injuries, Ponce said.

The father suffered minor cuts on his hand, he said.

But both men could have been killed if they did not get out the car, Ponce said.

Bystanders ran to the car and got the men out before the train struck the vehicle, flipping it upside-down and carrying it about a quarter-mile down the tracks.

The son was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center, and his father was taken to Providence-Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, police said.

Their conditions were not immediately available.