COMMUTER NIGHTMARE

SF Train Derails, Plunges Into Creek

9 injured, “an absolute miracle” no one died.

Nine people were injured Monday night when a Bay Area commuter train derailed in a heavy rainstorm and fell into a swollen creek after it struck a tree that had fallen onto tracks. Authorities at the Sunol, California, crash scene said it was “an absolute miracle” that no one was killed, though four passengers sustained serious, but not life-threatening, injuries, according to Alameda County Fire Department officials. There were 214 passengers on the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) train when it went off the tracks in Niles Canyon while traveling through Silicon Valley from San Jose to Stockton. Passengers described chaos as bodies hit and smashed glass and struggled through panic to get out of the first car, which was submerged in muddy water. A second car derailed but remained upright, ACE spokesman Steve Walker said. All of the passengers were accounted for, Walker added. No ACE trains will be operating Tuesday because of the derailment.