Anchorage Daily News
 

Train slams into pickup near Eklutna; nobody hurt


By KYLE HOPKINS
khopkins@adn.com

(07/06/09 18:35:47)

An Alaska Railroad passenger train slammed into a Chevy pickup that was stuck on the tracks near Eklutna at about 7:25 p.m. Sunday, according to the railroad.

No one was hurt, neither the nearly 700 passengers on the train nor anyone in the truck, which railroad officials say was driving illegally on the track.

The pickup became stuck when the driver, a 16-year-old boy, tried to turn it around. The three occupants of the truck were trying to get it off the track, with the help of another vehicle, when the train approached, according to the railroad.

The train's crew spotted the truck but couldn't stop in time to avoid hitting it. The pickup was destroyed; the train later continued on its trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage.

No one has been charged with a crime, though the railroad is investigating with help from the Anchorage Police Department.

Read The Village, the ADN's blog about rural Alaska, at adn.com/thevillage. Twitter updates: twitter.com/adnvillage. Call Kyle Hopkins at 257-4334.

 


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