An Amtrak train crashed into a semi-tractor pulling a large car-hauler on Friday night in Lakeland, inuring eight people and causing millions of dollars in damage, authorities say.
The semi-truck was heading north on Canal Avenue around 7 p.m. when the car-hauler it was pulling got stuck on the tracks. An Amtrak train, which had recently left the Lakeland Amtrak station on a Miami to New York trip, approached at 78 miles per hour.
The engineer aboard the train saw the truck on the tracks and began blowing the horn. The crossing arms and lights turned on, and the truck’s driver and passenger “jumped out,” according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The train, which had over 170 people on board, smashed into the truck. The train went another 200 yards before it came to a stop and partially derailed, causing “a small amount of diesel fuel” to leak, the sheriff’s office said in a summary of the incident.
Eight people suffered minor injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
The remaining passengers and crew members were taken to Tampa on buses arranged by Amtrak.
According to the sheriff’s office, estimates of the damage are between $6 and $10 million.
Law enforcement issued a citation to the semi-truck driver for “insufficient clearance at a railroad crossing.”
US Highway 92 and Canal Avenue North were closed for approximately 10 hours.
The sheriff’s office is heading the ongoing crash investigation.
“It is truly a miracle that nobody was seriously hurt in this crash,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd in a statement. “A collision between a passenger train and a semi-truck could have been much worse. Our sympathies are with those who were injured. I don’t think I could say enough about the incredible response and total team effort by all of the agencies involved.”
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