Three Injured After Amtrak Train Hits Tank Truck at Dangerous, Unguarded Crossing
(Yazoo County, Mississippi – May 24, 2019)
The driver of a reportedly empty tank truck was seriously injured and a train crew member and a passenger hurt Friday morning about 10:30 AM, CDT, when Amtrak’s City of New Orleans passenger train struck the truck at the dangerous and unguarded road/rail crossing. The crossing is located at Cessna Road (actually, Trestle Road) and Canadian National Railroad track near the Yazoo County, MS community of Bentonia, MS.
Trucker Curtis Moore, 62, of Bolton, MS, was seriously injured and airlifted by helicopter to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS, where he was admitted for treatment of head and leg injuries. The truck’s cab was virtually demolished in the collision.
The crossing is used daily by 15 Amtrak passenger and CN freight trains. Trains approach it at maximum speeds of 50 mph. The crossing is in a heavily wooded area and the foliage makes those oncoming trains nearly impossible to see. Yet, no active signalization (flashing lights and crossing gates) were present at the dangerous crossing site.
The crossing has been the site of one previous, non-injury crash. The Chicago-originating Amtrak train had made a stop in Memphis, TN, and was bound fo9r Jackson, MS on its way to its namesake city.
