AUBURN, Wash. (KIRO) – A driver and passenger in a tractor-trailer that made a wrong turn say they had seconds to escape before a train plowed into the truck, completely destroying its cab.
Police say an Amtrak train with more than 150 people onboard crashed into a tractor-trailer around 11:18 a.m. Saturday. Thankfully, no one was injured, as the driver and passenger of the truck escaped just in time.
Chris B. and Arkeen Young say they were both in the truck when their phone directions made them take a wrong turn. After turning, they found themselves stuck between another tractor-trailer and the train tracks. By the time they tried to back out, it was too late.
“By the time I looked over, the train was right there, so I just jumped out. Yeah, it was real close, so I had a good three seconds to get out,” Young said.
Chris B. says the thick morning fog made it difficult to see the train from a distance.
“It was real foggy. The only thing we could see from the train was just the lights, that’s it,” he said. “We couldn’t really tell how fast it was coming. I seen it coming. I don’t know how fast. I just know trains be moving.
The two had less than 10 seconds to choose between life or death.
“I’m like, ‘Yo, forget the truck, man. We got to get out of here, man,’” Chris B. said. “If he would have stayed on the truck for more than five seconds, it would have been over with.”
It was a good thing they escaped quickly because the cab of their truck was completely mangled and destroyed in the crash.
“As he’s running away from the truck, smack, the truck got hit. The engine literally flew out the truck like 30 feet ahead,” Chris B. said.
Sam Koek says he was on board the train when it collided with the truck.
“It felt like the chair jumped forward, you know. We stopped, and then, it jolted again,” he said.
Koek says he’s glad no one was hurt but couldn’t believe it after seeing all of the damage.
“The entire driver’s side of the truck was just ripped out of it. It was completely on its side, shattered. There were wires sticking out of the glove compartment,” he said.
The train was delayed more than two hours after the crash. Amtrak reported delays of an hour between Seattle and Tacoma as crews cleaned up the scene.
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