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EMERGENCY workers gather at the scene of an accident Jan. 13 on Wilmington-Peotone Road between West Street and Route 50. A southbound Amtrak train severed the bed from a pickup truck around 9:30 a.m. The driver of the pickup truck, Yozet Andrade, 19, of Kankakee, was uninjured. There were 110 passengers on the train and four crew members. No one was injured. photo by Tracy Ahrens
Train hits pickup at Peotone crossing  Share
A southbound Amtrak train severed the bed from a pickup truck around 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 13 at a crossing in Peotone. Rescue workers were called to Wilmington-Peotone Road between West Street and Route 50. The road was closed while the scene was investigated and cleared. The driver of the pickup truck, Yozet Andrade, 19, of Kankakee, was uninjured and walking around at the accident scene after it happened. The rear end of his pickup was in a ditch along the tracks nearby. Peotone Police Chief Bill Mort said Andrade was heading east on Wilmington-Peotone Road and the railroad crossing gates were just going down when Andrade drove across the tracks. ''Basically, the driver did not yield to the crossing gates,'' Mort said.
Mort said a witness noted the crossing gates were working. A preliminary accident investigation is underway. Mort said Andrade may be issued a traffic citation. Amtrak train No. 391 was en route to Carbondale. The train was parked for 40 minutes on a siding south of the intersection, then continued on to its destination, according to Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari that morning. There were 110 passengers on the train and four crew members. No one was injured. Peotone Fire Chief William Schreiber said two other train crossing accidents have happened in the Peotone area within the past few years. One was at Harlem Avenue, where a train hit a semi truck carrying steel. Another was on W. Kennedy Road, where a train hit an oil tanker truck. Magliari said six Amtrak trains pass through Peotone per day, traveling a ''normal maximum speed'' of 79 miles per hour. Their destinations are Chicago to the north, and Carbondale or New Orleans to the south. Tracy Ahrens is a reporter for Russell Publications.
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