Ohio train strikes truck stuck on railway as oblivious driver looks on

News

By Nicholas McEntyre

An oblivious trucker was just feet away from death when he stopped his 18-wheeler on a railroad crossing in front of a speeding train, which crashed into the truck, turning the white big rig into a pile of debris.

The wreck occurred around 10:30 Wednesday morning in the village of Versailles, Ohio when the semi-truck stopped on the West St crossing of the CSX railway as the safety barrier was lowering, the Village of Versailles Ohio EMS said in a statement on Facebook.

The chaotic scene was captured on video by bystander Isaiah David Everett Vanderhorst who was standing in the parking lot of one of the banks in the small village.

In the clip, one 18-wheeler had crossed over the tracks as the warning lights and bells began going off while the safety gate began to lower.

The approaching train could be heard in the background as the first truck made it across safely.

A second truck driver became stuck when the red and white barrier dropped between his cab and the trailer, having no time to move as the train came barreling down the tracks.

“Oh no! Oh no!” two witnesses can be heard behind the camera as the truck driver exits the cab, checking where the barrier had landed between the truck.

As the train approached the crossing, the driver and passenger slowly jogged away from the tracks right before the devastating impact.

The cab broke into hundreds of pieces as debris flew across the parking lot and track.

“On arrival, units found a semi perpendicular to the tracks with heavy front end damage and a large debris field,” the EMS statement read.

“The train involved continued West down the tracks coming to a stop just East of the Conover Rd crossing,” approximately a mile and a half from where the now-totaled truck sat.

Everyone on the train and the two passengers in the truck were accounted for.

Two people were evaluated by EMS on the scene but did not need further medical treatment.

While the majority of the truck’s cab was destroyed in the wreck, the train’s engine had also sustained damage but was repaired by CSX, according to the post.

The truck cab had also spilled fuel, which was cleaned up by the Versailles Fire Department, according to WDTN.

Emergency crews announced EMS had stayed on the scene for 2 hours, with the fire department remaining near the tracks until 3:15 p.m.

Late last year, an 18-wheeler had gotten stuck on the tracks Aledo, Texas, resulting in a Union Pacific train crashing and derailing.

Two train engines and 17 train cars derailed in total, the Texas Department of Safety said of the December crash, which resulted in only the train conductor being taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.

Wednesday’s crash occurred just over a year after a Norfolk Southern Corp freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.

The White House announced last month that President Biden would make a trip out to the Rust Belt town, sometime in February.