Zev 'haunted' by Chatsworth *

In a personal reflection on his county website, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky writes about going to the scene of the Metrolink crash in Chatsworth and talking with the relatives of victims. Sample:

It's been more than a week since the Metrolink crash and I'm still haunted by Beckie Pompel.

I met her at Chatsworth High School well past midnight on that horrible Friday night, September 12. She was among more than 100 people who'd gathered there in gut-wrenching uncertainty, awaiting word on the fate of loved ones whose names were missing from lists of the injured. There was despondency, and there were tears...

When Sheriff Lee Baca first asked me to accompany him to the school, I was reluctant. I didn't want to deal with the immense grief I knew would be awaiting us. However, I also thought that perhaps I could provide a measure of comfort, that maybe I could hold someone's hand or put an arm around a shoulder. So, despite my anxiety, I went....

When I arrived, the 63-year-old wife of Metrolink passenger Howard Pompel recognized me and immediately introduced herself. She was kind and open, and she instantly put me at ease. As we shook hands, she told me she was reasonably optimistic that her husband had survived the crash, even though there was no record of him being transported to a hospital. He always rode in the last car, the safest one. He'll turn up, she said.

My heart sank. I couldn't be as upbeat. A few hours earlier, I'd been told by fire officials that two commuters, whom they did not identify, had in fact died in that final car. I gamely encouraged her to keep praying but, in my gut, I had a sinking feeling that she was never going to see her husband again.

That night, after getting home in the wee hours, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about all those shattered lives and about Beckie Pompel. I felt a bond with her. And, like her, I wanted to believe.

Yaroslavsky saw Howard Pompel's name on the casualty list about 4 am: "The discovery sucked the air out of me."

* Add Metrolink: An inbound train struck and killed a pedestrian this morning in Sylmar. LAT