Train derails and catches fire near San Francisco, causing minor injuries and service disruptions

ORINDA, California — Several people suffered minor injuries and service was disrupted when a commuter train derailed and caught fire on New Year's Day in the San Francisco Bay Area, officials said.

The Bay Area Rapid Transit train had just left Orinda on its way to Lafayette around 9 a.m. Monday when the front two cars went off the track, agency spokesman Jim Allison said.

All passengers were evacuated and firefighters quickly extinguished flames in two cars, he said.

Several passengers were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, Allison said. The total number of injured was not immediately known. The remaining passengers walked back to Orinda Station.

Passenger Enrique Gonzalez said the train was delayed and when it started moving again, he heard “a few loud bangs” and “saw smoke pouring out from between the cars.”

“I was sitting there by the window and I saw the flames shooting up,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Early indications were that the derailment occurred on an interlocking stretch of track, where trains can transfer from one track to another, Allison said. It was not immediately clear what caused the derailment about eight miles northeast of Oakland.

Officials did not immediately say how many people were on the train when it derailed.

Service was suspended on 12 miles of track between Rockridge and Walnut Creek in both directions, the Chronicle reported. BART officials said Orinda Station would likely be closed for the rest of the day as crews remove damaged cars and inspect the tracks.

Although the transit system carried fewer passengers than normal on New Year's Day, the disruption will likely affect tens of thousands of people, Allison said.

“It's certainly a shame that people are stranded on a holiday like this,” he said.