Web ExclusiveMetrolink Train Derails in Glendale, 11 Killed

Photos by CYNTHIA PERRY
El Vaquero Staff Photographer

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On Jan. 26, Juan Manuel Alvarez drove his SUV onto train tracks in Glendale in what police first determined to be an attempt at suicide. When Alvarez apparently ran away from his vehicle before it was hit by a train, authorities assumed that he decided not to go through with his plan. Recently, authorities investigating Alvarez’s actions have determined that he was actually trying to derail a train and not commit suicide — all of this, supposedly, to win sympathy from his estranged wife.

The disaster that ensued when an incoming Metrolink train struck the SUV, another Metrolink train, and finally, a Union Pacific locomotive, left 11 dead and scores injured.

The following photos chronicle that day.