In a heartbreaking and confusing hour a father-of-three’s continued attempting to contact his loved ones following his tragic death in a rail disaster.

Charles E Peck was amongst the victims in the catastrophic San Fernando Valley Metrolink incident which became known as the Chatsworth crash.

Peck was recently engaged to Andrea Katz and the 49-year-old had three children from a previous marriage.

On 12 September 2008 at 4:22pm the passenger train carrying 225 people collided at a combined speed of 83 mph with a freight train operated by a crew of three, according to Snopes.

Tragically, there were 135 people injured, 87 of whom were taken to hospital, with 46 in critical condition. Devastatingly, 25 died, reports the Mirror US.

Peck, a customer service agent for Delta Air Lines at Salt Lake City International Airport died on impact. However, eerily, his mobile phone told a different story.

The 49-year-old had travelled to Los Angeles for a job interview at Van Nuys Airport – he was seeking new employment in California so he could marry his Westlake Village fiancée.

Horrifically, Katz heard about the crash on the radio while she was travelling to collect Peck from the station. She was accompanied by his parents and siblings.

Distressingly, his loved ones began receiving phone calls from Peck. For 11 hours they were bombarded with agonising calls from his phone, ringing his son, his brother, his stepmother, his sister, and his fiancée.

A chilling total of 35 calls from the phone were made throughout the night – whilst his family remained uncertain whether he was dead or alive. The phone calls gave his distraught loved ones hope that he was still alive and simply trapped.

Upon answering the mysterious calls, all they heard was static, and when they tried to ring back, the calls went straight to voicemail.

Eventually, Peck’s body was recovered from the wreckage 12 hours after the crash.

The flurry of calls prompted search crews to trace the whereabouts of the phone through its signal and to once again comb through what remained of the first train, the location from which the calls were originating.

The searchers finally discovered Peck’s body about an hour after the calls from his mobile phone ceased.

Hauntingly, it was discovered Peck died on impact – and his phone continued working beyond his death to reach out to those he loved most.

Ultimately, these calls also ensured his body was found, however his phone was never recovered.

A preliminary investigation into the deadliest accident in Metrolink’s history found that the engineer operating the commuter train had failed to recognise a red signal.

This meant the train entered a single track with the Union Pacific freight train that had been given the go ahead.