Amtrak said its California Zephyr train derailed around 10 p.m. Monday in Keenesburg, northeast of the Denver metro area.
KEENESBURG, Colo. — Four people were hurt – one of them with life-threatening injuries – after an Amtrak passenger train struck a semi-truck carrying 10,000 gallons of milk Monday night, according to the Colorado State Patrol (CSP).
The crash happened around 10 p.m. near Keenesburg in Weld County. According to CSP, the driver of the truck, a 31-year-old man from Alaska, was heading north on County Road 63 when he failed to stop at a stop sign near County Road 398 and drove onto the tracks. The truck’s trailer was hit by the Amtrak train, which caused the truck trailer to detach from the cab portion. CSP said.
The impact caused the Amtrak train’s engine car to derail, but the other cars remained upright. The train engineer, a 42-year-old man from Park City, Utah, suffered life-threatening injuries. He was airlifted to Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette, CSP said.
The truck driver and a passenger in his vehicle were not hurt.
There were 69 customers onboard the train, according to Amtrak. The only person transported from the scene was the injured engineer; however, once the passengers were moved to another location, three of them were taken to the hospital where they were treated for minor injuries, CSP said.
A small diesel spill was cleaned up by BNSF Railway.
Charges are pending, CSP said. A spokesperson for the agency could not say whether the track had been cleared. 9NEWS has reached out to Amtrak for an update.
The train was serving on the California Zephyr route between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Keenesburg is located about 45 minutes northeast of Denver on Interstate 76.
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