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Tractor trailer collides with Norfolk Southern train

By Christie Ileto - bio | email
Posted by Dana Franks - email

LEIGHTON, AL (WAFF) - The driver of a tractor trailer involved in a collision with a train Wednesday afternoon has been released from the hospital.

The accident happened on a private gravel road off Highway 20 in Leighton in Colbert County.

The Norfolk Southern train was traveling at about 45 mph when it was struck by the 18-wheeler.

In theory, that speed seems slow, but it was fast enough to cause some major damage.

When Kitty Smith came home, she said she didn't think she would return to an accident scene in her backyard.

"I just got a phone call at work and they told me to come home," Smith said. There had been a tragedy going on back here, there was some kind of bad accident, and I'm just really nervous and upset right now because I just came home and saw all this.

Investigators say the train leaked 500 gallons of diesel fuel on the tracks after it was struck by the truck just 1/2 mile west of where it stopped in Smith's backyard.

"It just kind of makes me nervous with all the animals around here and being this close to the house," Smith said.

Hazmat crews, along with Norfolk Southern's environmental team, worked to clean the spill early Wednesday evening.

Leighton police Chief Ray Hayse said the truck driver appeared to lunge forward as the train was passing.

"This situation could be potentially bad," he said. "Sometimes these farmers don't really pay attention coming across the tracks and sometimes they don't see the trains and basically that's what happened at this point in time."

The wreck left the 18-wheeler defaced with nothing but a grill in place of a hood and engine, and its driver in serious condition.

The driver of the tractor trailer was 63-year-old William Hare. He was transported by med flight to Huntsville Hospital with head injuries. He has been released from the hospital.

Earlier this year, the town of Leighton tried to close several of its railway crossings in the downtown area.

However, Wednesday's accident happened at a private railway crossing, which cannot be regulated.