Man seriously injured after driving into path of northeast CTrain
Posted Jul 19, 2013 6:48 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The condition of a man injured following a violent CTrain crash in the city’s northeast Thursday night appears to be improving.
According to Calgary police, the driver of a white Ford F-150 who collided with a southbound train is now in serious but stable condition, after being rushed to hospital with critical injuries.
It’s believed he was traveling south on 36th Street in Marlborough and was just ahead of the train around 11 p.m.
Acting Duty Inspector Joe Brar says for some reason, the man then drove around the barricade and was struck by the LRT car.
Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the crash.
There is no word yet on charges.
Fire crews had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate the driver of the truck.
Traffic officers kept the area closed for more than three hours as they completed their investigation.
The mangled remains of the pick-up, dragged for several metres, sat on the northbound tracks while experts assessed the damage.
Already a busy intersection, the impact drew dozens of bystanders.
Amanjot was walking in the area when he heard a loud bang and saw the whole thing unfold.
“I was just crossing the street and I heard a big noise,” he tells 660News. “So I look around, and the train was trying to stop; it was hitting the pick-up. When the train did stop, I got up there and I could see that the guy was kind of moving.”
“We didn’t try to touch him or anything, we looked in from the outside and we could see his arm moving around…it was really bad,” he adds.
Kate was shopping at the nearby Walmart at the time when she came across the collision and stopped to help.
She says many of those on the first car of the LRT complained about the abrupt halt.
“The people on the CTrain were shaken up, they were traumatized for sure,” she says. “I was talking to this one guy who told me he had whiplash.”
“They were scared but they were also hopeful, they wanted the person in the truck to be okay,” she adds.
According to Brar, the injuries on the train were minor in nature and no one on board was taken to hospital.
Service along the northeast CTrain line has since been restored.
