Commuter train crash death count rises to 17, LAPD officer among the dead

........A short time later, alongside the wreckage, scores of uniformed Los Angeles Police Department officers formed two lines in a makeshift formation waiting for rescue crews to extract the body of an LAPD officer on her way home from work.

Rescue workers pause to honor an LAPD officer as her body is removed from the wreckage.

By Joel Rubin, Ann M. Simmons and Mitchell Landsberg 5:18 a.m.
The commuter train collides with a Union Pacific freighter near Chatsworth. It's the worst crash in Metrolink history, and the toll could climb
17 dead, 135 injured in Metrolink crash
Rescue teams worked frantically into this morning after a Metrolink passenger train carrying 225 people collided Friday with a Union Pacific freight train on a sharp curve in Chatsworth, killing at least 17 people and leaving more than 135 injured. It was one of the worst train crashes in Southern California history and Metrolink officials said they could not explain why warning systems failed to prevent such a catastrophic collision.About 250 fire department personnel and 200 police officers were on the scene before dawn Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
click link for more