A freight train collided with a truck, completely destroying it just minutes after the driver escaped.
The shocking accident happened about 40 miles outside of New York City in the upstate town of Haverstraw.
A video recorded by a witness and shared on social media showed a cart stopped at an intersection. Suddenly, a cargo truck slides, colliding with the semi-truck and continuing on its tracks.
The truck is instantly destroyed, with pieces of wood flying into the air.
“Today, a truck delivery turned into a driver’s worst nightmare when the tractor trailer got stuck waiting at a traffic light in Haverstraw on the train tracks, directly in the path of an oncoming train,” said the county executive. Rockland, Ed Day, on Thursday.
“Fortunately, the driver managed to get out before the train hit the trailer and no one was hurt.”
The truck was transporting titanium tubes to a factory and got stuck on the train tracks, according to Haverstraw Police Captain John Gould. The load the truck was carrying “was quite heavy,” he told CBS News.
“And just at the edge of the road, the trailer body got stuck,” Gould said.
‘He kind of scraped (the rails), which brought him to a stop, and he was trying to figure out how to get out of it. But, unfortunately for him, the train was arriving at that time.’
Day, a former police commander, thanked first responders for quickly arriving at the scene of the accident, which occurred around 9:30 am. Day said he understood and appreciated “exactly how much hard work is being put into securing a scene of this magnitude.”
“Drivers need to be extra careful when traveling over train tracks and never, ever wait for a traffic light on train tracks,” he said.
‘Always keep a safe distance from the crossing gates and only cross the train tracks if you can safely reach the other side.’
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