LAPD officer among the dead *

Channel 7 says an unidentified Los Angeles Police Department officer has been confirmed dead in the Chatsworth Metrolink crash.

Updates from media monitoring:

* Rescue workers have been pulled out of the overturned Metrolink car while dogs search the wreckage for trapped victims, per Channel 7. 9:12 pm
* UCLA received eight critical trauma patients by helicopter before being advised to stand down. Five of them have undergone surgery at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. "We're seeing a lot of crush injuries...and broken limbs," a doctor said on Channel 7. 9:16 pm
* Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other officials have scheduled a 10 pm briefing in the parking lot at the Chatsworth Hills Academy, 21523 Rinaldi St. 9:21 pm
* Rescuers have resumed active work on the downed train car that has the Metrolink engine shoved inside it. Channel 7 anchor Marc Brown speculates that means the dogs found something. The train had 222 passengers aboard, MTA says, per Channel 7. 9:30 pm
* LAPD's citywide tactical alert has been cancelled. Dozens of officers have converged on the railroad right-of-way beside one of the rear Metrolink cars, perhaps in respect for their fallen colleague, who has not yet been publicly identified. 9:36 pm
* Metrolink's Denise Tyrrell confirms an unknown number of people remain trapped inside the downed train car and that specialists are on the scene trying to figure the best way to cut through the wreckage to free them. 9:42 pm
* Channel 9 is live on the air (the Dodgers won) and Channel 2 went to programming. Channel 7 is the other station still reporting from Chatsworth. 9:45 pm
* Channel 7 leaves for ABC's special with Sarah Palin, but channels 5 and 11 come on with their regular news shows. 10:02 pm
* Tensions are "extremely high" among families waiting for word at Chatsworth High School, Gigi Graciette says on Fox 11. Just 20 families have been successfully reunited thus far, she says. Heartbreaking: the crying mother desperate for word of her 18-year-old fashion designer daughter who took the train home from her last day of class at FIDM downtown.10:06 pm
* The mayor's media briefing has been moved to 10:30. 10:14 pm
* A body is being removed from the front car by litter and fire department ladder with LAPD officers lined up to receive. It would appear to be the brother officer who died, as work has stopped and firefighters have removed their helmets. Hatless LAPD officers are saluting as the body passes down the line. Sheriff deputies and other personnel also are lining the path to the ambulance and saluting. The body is draped with an American flag. "Very well done," Fox 11's Carlos Amezcua says of the impromptu ceremony. 10:40 pm


First news round-up, second news round-up, media scan.

8:56 PM Friday, September 12 2008 • Link
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