The moment a freight train derails after plowing into an 18-wheeler
By RYAN GORMAN
Shocking video has emerged of a freight train slamming into an 18-wheeler that was stuck on the tracks.
The Sunday afternoon wreck in Mer Rouge, Louisiana, caused two of the engines and 17 of the train's 87 cars to jump the tracks. The flatbed truck hit by the train was totaled but only two people were injured.
The Union Pacific train's conductor suffered serious injuries. WDSU reported. The engineer suffered minor injuries.
The truck's driver escaped unharmed.
Video shows the large truck stuck across the tracks, about 120 miles east of Shreveport, in traffic as the warning gates go down to warn motorists of an oncoming train.
A train horn can be heard blowing non-stop as the person taking video waits in horror.
The train plows through the intersection, slices the truck in half and jumps the tracks.
Smoke is everywhere as parts of the truck go in every direction.
No one sitting on either side of the intersection is in harm's way, but about 50 nearby homes were evacuated over fears a tank car with pressurized argon gas might explode, according to WDSU.
A local official bemoaned the town's bad luck with trains to local station KNOE.
"This is Mer Rouge, were pretty much known here for our train crashes. I believe this will be the third of fourth one in the past two years," said police chief Mitch Stephens.
The cleanup wrapped up Monday evening.
