MRL Train Collides With Semi Truck Near Frenchtown – No Injuries
At approximately 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, an MRL freight train collided with a semi truck at a crossing near Frenchtown.
Frenchtown Fire District spokesman Mel Holtz spoke with KGVO News from the scene and said there were no injuries reported in the incident.
“When we arrived on scene it was actually blocking both crossings, so we had to go down to the next crossing and backtrack to the accident scene,” said Holtz. “There was a semi truck actually hanging partway over the rail and ended up getting hit by the train. The driver saw the train coming and was able to run a safer distance away and so no one was injured in the crash. The collision moved the semi approximately 25 yards down the track into one of the MRL maintenance buildings which did sustain some damage. We called the power company out to make sure the transmission lines were safe, as well.”
Holtz said MRL officials responded to the scene and are investigating the incident. They checked out the locomotive and just cleared the track at about 9:00 p.m. There is no backed up traffic on the tracks.
Holtz said while his crew was responding to the train versus semi collision, crews responded to two other accidents on Interstate 90 because of the snow and black ice conditions, and reminded drivers to slow down due to hazardous driving conditions.