A local teenager was one of two people who may have been sleeping on the tracks when they were struck and killed by a Metrolink commuter train, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Metrolink train 603 heading from Oceanside to Los Angeles struck the trio on tracks under the Alicia Parkway overcrossing at 6:06 a.m., agency spokeswoman Angie Starr said. The group included two young women and a young man, authorities said.
The dead were identified late Thursday as Anastasia Bolton, 17, of Del Mar and Daniel Akins, 22, of Mission Viejo, sheriff's Lt. Colin Murphy said.
A 27-year-old Santa Ana woman, who was injured, called 911, authorities said. She was transported with moderate injuries to Mission Hospital.
All three had apparently met on Facebook and got together Wednesday night in Santa Ana before heading to Laguna Beach and then the train tracks in Mission Viejo, according to investigators.
The teenage girl who survived the accident said all three of them had fallen asleep on the tracks, and she woke up just before the train hit them, according to Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.
Investigators are looking into what the three teens were doing in the area. Members of the sheriff's Major Accident Reconstruction Team have been called to investigate the scene.
That section of railroad tracks is near a park that is frequented by teenagers and young adults drinking and taking drugs, a neighbor told the Los Angeles Times. Preliminary tests show the teenage girl who survived the accident did not have alcohol or drugs in her system.
Bus services were being used between Laguna Niguel and Irvine to transport train passengers.
