12 KILLED AS TRAINS COLLIDE.

Byline: Steve Goldstein and Michael E. Ruane Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

The heavy locomotives of a long-distance Amtrak train bound west for Chicago plowed into a commuter train in Silver Spring, Md., about 5:45 (EST) Friday evening, reportedly killing at least 12 and seriously injuring two aboard the commuter train.

There appeared to be no serious injuries among the 175 passengers and crew on the 15-car Amtrak train. Many of the dead were found in a fire-blackened passenger car of the commuter train, according to Montgomery County fire officials.

Witnesses said the lead locomotive of the Amtrak train exploded in the snowy night, throwing an enormous fireball into the air and setting the passenger cars of the commuter train afire.

"We heard a very loud boom and then we saw this big fireball," said Tina Hochberg, who lives beside the tracks. "We thought it was going to come through our picture window."

The lead passenger car of the commuter train was split wide by the impact and burned out by the fire. Because of intense heat, fire workers reportedly were unable to begin searching the car for victims until 8 p.m.

The passengers of the Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) train - 286 - were vulnerable because the train was being operated in a "push mode" with its engine pushing three cars from the rear. A crew member typically rides at the front of the first car.

The MARC train, headed from Brunswick, Md., eastbound to Washington's Union Station, reportedly was stopped at the time of the accident. Passengers of the Amtrak train said it was more than an hour late leaving Union Station.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were on the scene and there were reports that they were examining the possibility that both trains may have been on the same track.

Warren Monk, a MARC official, said the cause of the wreck wasn't known but noted "we were having some switch problems."

The scene of the wreck was chaotic late into the night, with ice from the firefighting effort making it difficult for rescue vehicles to maneuver on narrow side streets.

The Amtrak train, the Capital Limited, left Washington about 5 p.m. and had scheduled stops including Harper's Ferry, W.Va., Pittsburgh and Hammond, Ind. It was scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 9 a.m. today.

The wreck occurred at Georgetown Junction on an elevated berm that carries the rail lines north out of Silver Spring on the border between Maryland and the District of Columbia.

The wrecked trains stretched out along the steep slope of the berm - the two Amtrak locomotives on their side - behind Rosemary Hills Elementary School. At least four cars were seriously burned.

A number of residents of Park Sutton Condominium, a 12-story apartment building beside the track, were witnesses to the tragedy.

Caitlin Parsons, 15, who lives on Grace Church Road near the tracks, said she was napping on her couch when she heard a crash. 'It sounded like long rolling thunder," she said. "I ran out and saw that a lot of cars were in flames. I heard sirens right away but the ambulances coming up the street were having trouble getting through . . ."

Hochberg said she was watching television news with her husband, John Sargent, in the living room of their apartment in the condominium when the wreck occurred.

Sargent put on his coat and boots, ran outside and up the berm where he met Amtrak passengers hurrying down through five inches of snow and heavy woods.

Sargent said the Amtrak train appeared to be slowing just before the accident and couldn't have been going more than 25 miles an hour. He said he thought he heard loud honking just before the explosion.

The Amtrak engine exploded and all the cars of the MARC train caught fire, Sargent said.

"We had multiple fires on the train and we were assisting the people who couldn't get off under their own power," said Ed Bickham, assistant chief of Montgomery County Fire and Rescue.

Bickham of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue said most Amtrak passengers were able to get off the train and everybody was evacuated within 20 to 30 minutes. He saw the engine explode and all the cars of the MARC train caught fire.

Kecia Boney, another Park Sutton resident, heard an incredibly loud explosion and ran outside. She said she saw flames 20 feet in the air and black smoke. She described "an amazing sound - thunder for about 15 seconds then dead silence."

Lynette Zito, 21, of Freeland, Md., who was a passenger in a car about the midpoint of the Amtrak train, said the impact was minimal. She said it was her first solo trip. "I don't think I'm going to be doing it again for a long time," she said.

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Photo (1--color) Firefighters look for survivors aboard a commuter train Friday in Silver Spring, Md. Associated Press (2) Rescue workers move an injured person from the site of a collision between an Amtrak train and a commuter train. Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire Map Silver Spring, MD Amtrak train leaving D.C. for Chicago derails after colliding with second train. Knight-Ridder Tribune Graphics Network