55 injured in collision of train, tractor-trailer in NC

Associated Press

HALIFAX, N.C.

An Amtrak train collided with a tractor-trailer that was stuck on the tracks while trying to make a difficult left-hand turn Monday. At least one of the train’s cars toppled and 55 or more people were injured.

The collision was the third serious commuter train crash in less than two months. Two deadly crashes in New York and California in February killed a total of seven people and injured 30.

The tractor-trailer in Monday’s collision had backed up several times as the truck’s driver tried to make the turn, said Leslie Cipriani, who shot a video of the crash with her cellphone while sitting in her car at a stop sign. While the driver was still attempting the maneuver, Cipriani heard the sound of the oncoming train and saw the crossing arms hit the tractor-trailer.

“I saw him jump out of the truck when he knew he couldn’t beat it. ... I heard the train noise and thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s going to happen,’” she said.

The truck driver was not injured, said North Carolina State Highway Patrol spokesman Jeff Gordon.

The tractor-trailer, owned by Guy M. Turner Inc. in Greensboro, had a permit to carry an overweight load of 80,000 pounds, said state Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Abbott. It wasn’t immediately clear what the tractor-trailer was carrying; the company did not respond to an email asking for comment.

Of the injured passengers, 54 were taken to hospitals with nonlife-threatening injuries, state transportation officials said.