Associated Press A rescue worker transports a victim to a waiting ambulance after a collision between a commuter train and a freight train Tuesday, in Placentia, Calif. The northbound freight train hit the southbound Metrolink train at 8:10 a.m., south of Los Angeles, buckling and derailing two cars packed with passengers, authorities and witnesses said.

PLACENTIA, Calif. - A mile-long freight train plowed head-on into a commuter train during rush hour yesterday, killing two people and injuring at least 260 people, officials said.

The northbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train struck the southbound Metrolink train at 8:10 a.m. south of Los Angeles, buckling and derailing two cars packed with passengers, authorities and witnesses said.

"Our train stopped and the next thing you know - boom! - it hit," passenger Gene Ogelsby said.

Jackie Bisesi saw the crash while she was pumping gas at a nearby station, about 35 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

"I heard the horn. I saw the train coming toward it. I said, 'Oh my God! It's on the same track! It's going to hit; it's going to hit!' We all started running forward," she said.

Metrolink officials said they didn't know how the trains wound up on the same track.

One person died at the scene and another died later, Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said. The victims were not immediately identified.

Up to 300 people were aboard the commuter train, Metrolink spokeswoman Sharon Gavin said. Twenty-five of about 260 injured were immediately taken to hospitals and 45 others were to be transported, she said.

"The train stopped for a couple seconds. The freight train just hit us," Metrolink passenger Scott Wilson said. "For me, I was facing backward. Maybe that's how I ended up being OK."

Another passenger, Kim Bailey, also recalled the train coming to a halt just before the crash. "I was thrown forward onto my knees with my face into the seat, and I was just confused. I just saw darkness, and I didn't know what happened," she said.

Firefighters, some using ladders, helped passengers out of the derailed two-decker Metrolink train and treated the most seriously injured in a triage area.

Many of the victims had internal injuries and broken bones.

All area hospitals were put on alert. Kaiser Permanente Orange County Medical Center in Anaheim received 10 patients. Two were in guarded condition, and the rest had minor injuries, spokeswoman Nora Norman said. St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton reported two critically injured patients.