Train engineer texted 22 seconds before LA crash

A COMMUTER train engineer sent a mobile phone text message 22 seconds before his commuter train crashed head-on into freight train in southern California last month, killing 25 people, federal investigators said.

Mobile phone records of Robert Sanchez, who was among the dead, show he received a text message a minute and 20 seconds before the crash and sent one about a minute later, the US National Transportation Safety Board said in a news release.

Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H Boardman announced an emergency order prohibiting use of personal electronic devices by workers operating trains and in other key jobs.