Early this morning, a box truck, making deliveries for Amazon, met a calamitous fate when it was struck by a train and subsequently collided with a house in Westmoreland County. The incident, which unfolded around 5:30 a.m. at the intersection of North Water Street and East Main Street in West Newton, thankfully resulted in no injuries. WPXI reported that the truck's driver, not familiar with the area, followed his GPS instructions onto the tracks and became stuck.
"He wasn’t from here. He’s not familiar, and he was trying to get to the post office. He was panicking, trying to get the truck off the tracks, and he couldn’t," said West Newton Mayor Mary Popovich in a statement obtained by WPXI. At the same time, the homeowner, preparing for work at his restaurant, heard a disturbance but did not immediately investigate the noise. Officials indicate that this is not an isolated incident, as similar GPS misdirections have led drivers onto these tracks before.
Following the collision, the train pushed the errant vehicle into the back porch of a nearby house where two people were sleeping. According to a WTAE interview with West Newton's mayor, the affected individuals managed to exit their home safely. Mayor Popovich expressed concern over the repeated nature of such accidents, stressing the urgent need for preventive measures.
