SHAFTER, Calif. (KGET) — One person was killed and three others were hurt after a train collided into a truck Friday afternoon in Shafter, Kern County Fire officials said.
The collision involving an Amtrak train and the pickup truck was reported just after 2 p.m. on the tracks along Santa Fe Way between Orange and Burbank streets. The pickup truck burst into flames as it was dragged along the tracks several hundred feet before coming to a stop.
An Amtrak spokesperson said the passenger train was traveling southbound from Oakland to Bakersfield and carrying 137 people onboard.
Kern County Fire Department Capt. Andrew Freeborn said one person was dead in the pickup truck.
An off-duty Shafter police officer tried to get to the truck to help anyone inside, but was unable to get close because it was too hot, CHP reported.
Train passengers were able to climb out of the train and gathered in a cemetery until buses were able to drive them to the station in Bakersfield. Three train passengers suffered minor injuries in the crash, Freeborn said.
The train was traveling in a “push” mode where the train’s locomotive was at the rear of the train. Smoke from the truck damaged a portion of the train car that collided with the truck.