January 22, 1956: The Los Angeles Police Department and local media broadcast one of the very first “SigAlerts” following the worst train wreck in city history.
The alert was triggered by the accident of a Santa Fe passenger train which had departed Union Station and derailed at Redondo Junction, southwest of Boyle Heights. The accident killed 30 people and injured 117.
It was the first major disaster in the Los Angeles area covered by live television.
[photo source and more notes on the accident:
lafire.com]