6 Killed as Taxi Tries to Beat Blue Line Train in Compton

A taxi driver and his five passengers--including three brothers from Mexico--were killed when their cab swerved around a Compton crossing gate in a futile attempt to beat a Blue Line commuter train across the tracks, authorities said Sunday.

The impact of the fiery crash around 11 p.m. Saturday sliced the taxi in half and sent its front end tumbling down the track, tossing five of the victims onto the rails.

Witnesses said the cabdriver seemed to be trying to beat the train over the Greenleaf Boulevard crossing after racing southbound on Willowbrook Avenue alongside the Metropolitan Transportation Authority tracks.

The crash was the deadliest in the nine-year history of the Blue Line, which runs 22 miles between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach, officials said. It brought to 53 the number of motorists or pedestrians who have died in collisions with trains along the line--which is the most heavily used light rail line in North America.

Because of its large number of at-grade street crossings--it traverses 101 streets--the Blue Line has recorded more than 400 train-car accidents since its debut.

The MTA has responded with rigorous training of operators and constant tinkering with fences, horn sounds, signal lights, traffic gates and other safety hardware. Swing gates, which pedestrians have to pull back rather than push forward, have been installed at some stations.

No passengers were on the train, which was derailed by the impact. Its operator, identified by the MTA as Donnette Burks, was treated at a Harbor City hospital for minor shoulder and knee injuries.

The busy line was shut down for more than 16 hours before repair crews were able to resume service Sunday afternoon by routing trains around the damaged southbound tracks. Blue Line passengers could experience delays of nearly a half-hour this morning, officials said.

3 Brothers Arrived Here in Last Year

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office identified the cabdriver as Romaldo Gonzales, 43, of Compton. Workers at Compton Yellow Cab said Gonzales had worked there for five months recently, though they said he was not driving for the company Saturday night. They described him as a good employee.

“He was an OK guy,” said a dispatcher.

The three brothers were identified as Luis Davila, 26; Sergio Davila, 22; and Jesus Davila, 19, said coroner’s investigator Robert Fierro. All three had come from Mexico within the last year, he said.

Fierro said the brothers took a Blue Line train late Saturday from the Long Beach apartment they shared to a party in Compton. They had been drinking and decided to call a cab to take them home, he said.

Luis and Sergio Davila were married and had children, relatives said. They and Jesus, who was single, sold T-shirts, pants, jackets and other clothing from their Hoffman Street apartment during the week and in the garment district on weekends, they said. The brothers sent money back to their families in San Pedro de Toluca, in the state of Mexico.

“They were very responsible men,” said Max Gomez, 31, an uncle. “They came here to work hard, like all of us in the family do, and they worked very hard to provide for their families.”

But they also liked to have fun, and relatives said the brothers would often dress up for dances at local clubs featuring cumbia or banda music.

None of the brothers had a car, and they relied on public transit or rides from friends, relatives said.

“What can we do? I feel dizzy, upset,” said Salvador Gomez, 43, another uncle who came to the coroner’s office late Sunday to identify the bodies.

Salvador Gomez said the last time he saw the brothers was on Thanksgiving, when they joined other family members for a holiday get-together. His wife wanted to take their picture, Gomez said, but they begged off because they were too tired from working so hard.

“Little did I know that they would be dead now,” Gomez said, adding that the family doesn’t have money for funerals.

Gomez said he was unaware of the tragedy until about 1:30 p.m., when police officers arrived at his home in the blue-collar neighborhood just south of Long Beach City College. By 8:30 p.m., he had returned from the coroner’s office and placed a telephone call to the men’s families in Mexico.

As he broke the news, a man’s voice could be heard screaming on the other end.

The coroner’s office identified another passenger in the taxi as Sara Rodriguez, 17, of Compton. Relatives and the coroner’s office identified her as the girlfriend of one of the brothers.

The identity of the fifth passenger, a female, was not established by late Sunday. Fierro said she was already in the cab when it picked up the brothers in Compton.

Investigators hoped to learn today whether two automatic cameras mounted next to the Greenleaf crossing managed to photograph the crash. The boxes are intended to catch motorists illegally driving around crossing gates.

Witnesses told investigators that the cabdriver ignored flashing lights and warning bells when he made a quick left turn from Willowbrook onto eastbound Greenleaf and sped directly in front of the horn-sounding train.

“I think his intent was to beat the train,” said motorist Gabriel Castro, 29, of Compton, who was headed west on Greenleaf when he stopped to let the train pass.

“From there on, you could hear all this rumble and see these sparks. I was just shocked. I saw the car blow up and I knew there was nothing I could do.”

Nearby residents who heard the crash ran from their homes to help. But there was little they could do.

The taxi had been slammed into a steel pole that holds up the electric lines powering the trains. That impact ripped the taxi in half, leaving the rear portion near the rail crossing and sending the front half about 50 yards down the track.

The body of one passenger was still in the back of the taxi after impact, witnesses said. The other victims were scattered down the track. The mangled front part of the taxi burst into flames from the friction of tumbling down the track. Officials said none of the electrified Blue Line wires fell.

But witnesses said sparks from downed wires prevented them from getting close to the burning wreckage.

“We came out with a fire extinguisher,” said nearby resident Moises Rodriguez, 25. “The wires were throwing sparks. The car started on fire and then it exploded.”

Another neighbor, 14-year-old Daniel Chavez, said a police officer was attempting to put out the fire with the extinguisher when the front half of the taxi exploded.

Onlookers said the cab was painted yellow. Authorities declined to say with which company the car was affiliated.

The force of the crash derailed the train, which came to a halt about 75 yards south of the crossing. About four dozen concrete ties were broken by the derailment.

Repair crews used hydraulic jacks to lift the train back onto the tracks, according to Jesse J. Diaz, the MTA’s rail transportation superintendent. The heavily damaged train was towed away as workmen moved in to replace two downed power poles and begin repairing the track.

Commuters were bused around the crash site until about 3 p.m. Sunday, when repairs to the northbound track were finished and a test train was driven over them at speeds of 5, 10 and 15 mph. After that, regular commuter trains were allowed to alternate using the single track between the Blue Line’s Artesia Boulevard and Imperial Highway stations.

MTA Had Been Warning Motorists

Ed Scannell, an MTA spokesman, said commuters today could experience 25-minute delays on the Blue Line as trains continue alternately using the single line for north and south service. He said work crews may need another four days to repair the damaged southbound track.

Until then, trains passing the accident site will be restricted to 10 mph instead of their usual 55 mph, he said.

Scannell said train operator Burks, an eight-year MTA employee, was certified in March for Blue Line work. He said she has been involved in just one minor accident until now.

MTA officials said Saturday’s crash came despite increased efforts to warn motorists about the dangers of trying to beat Blue Line trains at intersections. Sheriff’s deputies and local police have also stepped up enforcement of laws that require drivers to stop when rail crossing bells ring, red lights flash and crossing arms drop about 28 seconds before a train enters an intersection.

Trains sound a distinctive warning--two long toots of the horn, followed by one short toot and a third long one--as they approach.

Scannell said motorists who ignore the warnings are subject to a $104 fine, which increases to $271 on Jan. 1.

“This is serious business. This is absolutely the most graphic illustration of the risk somebody takes when a train is coming,” he said.

MTA officials have blamed virtually all of the past Blue Line deaths on miscalculations or carelessness by pedestrians and motorists.

MTA officials are providing system operators with training on how to be aware of such hazards, but they point out that these dangers, inherent in an urban system at ground level, are often beyond their control.

In 1998 there were 10 fatalities involving Blue Line trains. Saturday’s accident brought this year’s total to the same number.

Because it’s the nation’s busiest light rail line, with 56,000 passenger boardings a weekday on about 200 trips, the Blue Line had more accidents involving pedestrians last year than any other light rail system in the state, according to the state’s Public Utilities Commission.

The eight pedestrians who died and five who were injured by Blue Line trains represented 43% of the pedestrian casualties reported by light rail systems in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento and the Santa Clara Valley, the commission said in its annual report on railroad accidents. Those numbers are comparable to 1997, when the Blue Line had 46% of the pedestrian casualties, the highest in the state that year.

Saturday night’s crash occurred at the 12.9-mile marker, measured from downtown Los Angeles, according to officials.

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Times staff writer Tina Daunt contributed to this story. Times wire services also contributed to this report.