Train Crash West Virginia: Collision With Truck Leaves 1 Dead, 23 Injured [NEWS]
A collision between a logging truck and a sight-seeing train in West Virginia left the driver dead, and 23 additional people injured Friday.
The accident occurred on U.S. Route 250, on top of Cheat Mountain, 160 miles east of Charleston, after the truck driver allegedly ran through the crossing signals.
The train was carrying roughly 63 sightseers and four crew members at the time as it made a trek amid West Virginia's mountains on a fall foliage tour.
The train is operated by The Durbin & Greenbrier Railroad, and is known as the Cheat Mountain Salamander. It takes passengers on a 6.5 hour, 88-mile round trip from Elkins.
According to The Sacramento Bee, two of the trains cars flipped over onto their sides after the impact.
The truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The railroad crossing signals were flashing at the scene. As all emergency personnel arrived, we observed the signals flashing at the time," Randolph County Sheriff Mark Brady said during a news conference. "At this juncture of the investigation, it appears that the log truck had run through the crossing signals and struck the passenger cars of the train."
Six of the injured were listed in serious condition at Davis Memorial Hospital, and two were in stable condition.
42 others were also reportedly taken from the train by school bus to the hospital, but were later found to be unharmed.
The route has been indefinitely closed since Friday.
