Murder charges are being prepared by the authorities in Los Angeles following a train crash yesterday that killed at least 11 people.
Nearly 200 were injured when two commuter trains collided after one struck a car left on the tracks in what authorities called an aborted suicide attempt by a "deranged" man.
The trains also struck a parked freight train, sparking a brief fire. The collision occurred just after 6 a.m. (local time), near a shopping strip at the edge of an industrial area near Glendale, north of downtown Los Angeles.
Police and fire officials said the man slashed his wrists and stabbed himself in the chest shortly before parking his Jeep on the tracks. But he jumped clear at the last moment and watched as the two high-speed trains smashed together and derailed in a fiery wreck.
The man was identified by police as Mr Juan Manuel Alvarez (25). He was found wandering the scene after the predawn accident, muttering: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," according to a local television report.
Police said the man, who was uninjured in the crash, was arrested and would be charged with at least 10 counts of murder.
About 125 people hurt in the train wreck were hospitalised, and 60 others were treated for minor injuries and released, fire officials said. Ten people who were initially reported dead included a sheriff's deputy and a train conductor.
An 11th body was retrieved from the wreckage in the evening.
Metrolink, the Southern California commuter rail service that operates the train tracks, said it was the worst accident in its 13-year history.