National

Cause Of Los Angeles Train Crash Debated

By Philip Bruce, Liane Hansen

Published September 14, 2008 at 5:00 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Authorities say a commuter train's engineer missed a signal light and his MetroLink train crashed head-on with a freight train in the San Fernando Valley community of Chatsworth. But a union representing rail workers raised the possibility that the signal malfunctioned.

Friday's crash killed 25 people and injured as many as 135.

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National

Liane Hansen

Liane Hansen has been the host of NPR's award-winning Weekend Edition Sunday for 20 years. She brings to her position an extensive background in broadcast journalism, including work as a radio producer, reporter, and on-air host at both the local and national level. The program has covered such breaking news stories as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Columbia shuttle tragedy. In 2004, Liane was granted an exclusive interview with former weapons inspector David Kay prior to his report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The show also won the James Beard award for best radio program on food for a report on SPAM.