A garbage truck split in two Thursday morning after an Amtrak passenger train slammed into it at a railroad crossing in Westland, and the driver was taken to a hospital. The crash happened around 8:30 a.m. at the Merriman Road railroad crossing near Michigan Avenue, shutting down the road in both directions as emergency crews worked the scene.
The truck was split in two in the collision. The driver was pinned inside the wreckage, and his condition was not immediately known. Audacy.com reported that he was taken to a hospital. It remains unclear exactly how the truck ended up in the train's path.
Amtrak Confirms No Injuries Among 136 Passengers
An Amtrak spokesperson said 136 passengers were aboard the train at the time of the crash and that no one on board was hurt, the station's report noted. The train involved was identified as Amtrak Train 351, which runs daily between Pontiac and Chicago. As reported by patch.com, the collision unfolded Thursday morning in Westland at the same Merriman Road crossing.
Not every detail of the morning lined up cleanly across initial reports. fox2detroit.com reported that the circumstances of the crash were not immediately clear and that it was not known whether there were any injuries, even as its own SkyFOX coverage showed debris from the vehicle scattered across the scene while police and fire crews investigated. Metro Detroit News reported that one person was pinned inside the truck and rushed to a hospital with a condition that was not immediately known, and that other people aboard the train were being evaluated by medical personnel.
Road Closure Snarls Westland Traffic
Merriman Road was shut down in both directions following the crash, forcing drivers in the Wayne and Westland area to find alternate routes while investigators worked the scene.
A Second Michigan Train Strike in Two Days
Thursday's crash came just a day after another Amtrak train struck a vehicle at the Central Street railroad crossing near downtown Dexter, roughly 30 miles away. The Sun Times News reported that the Dexter train's conductor estimated about 150 passengers and crew were aboard at the time, and that no injuries were reported among them or the vehicle's driver. That train had reportedly been traveling around 60 mph before the crew initiated emergency braking.
Michigan has seen similar scenes play out elsewhere this year. In July, a semi-tractor trailer was split in two after it became stuck on railroad tracks and was struck by a train in Zeeland Township, according to mlive.com. The truck driver in that incident managed to escape his rig before impact, and deputies reported no injuries, though the crash near Chicago Drive and 76th Avenue shut the road for about six hours because the train's engine was left inoperable.
