One person was killed and another seriously injured when a commercial train collided with a semi-truck in a rural area of Iowa in the USA. The accident occurred on Wednesday afternoon (June 3) at a railroad crossing. According to Poweshiek County Sheriff Matt Musman, one of the occupants of the semi-truck was killed, while another person was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
USA: 17 cars derailed
The collision led to the derailment of 17 train cars and two engines. Local authorities reported damage to railroad infrastructure, while footage from the scene shows train cars stacked on top of each other. Emergency and rescue teams rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area. The exact causes of the accident are not yet known. Authorities are investigating the circumstances under which the truck ended up on the tracks and led to the serious collision with the train.
Railway safety concerns resurface
The Iowa accident comes just days after the railway tragedy in Belgium. The accident occurred in Buggenhout in East Flanders in the Flemish region, where Belgium’s Dutch-speaking community lives, about 15 miles north of Brussels. At the time of the accident, approximately 100 passengers were on the train, while 9 were on the school bus.
Federal Transport Minister Jean-Luc Crucke told RTL network that two teenage students, the driver and the supervisor-attendant lost their lives. Five other students were in the vehicle. These incidents bring railway crossing safety issues back into the spotlight.
