SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — South Fulton Police says four people were hurt, one critically, when a train hit a trailer on Wednesday afternoon.
A firefighter was also injured battling the fire that resulted from the collision.
It was earlier reported that two people were hurt.
Union City Fire said the train and truck collided at Roosevelt Highway and Stonewall Tell Road.
Two of the people hurt were on the truck, and two were on the train, South Fulton Police said.
Union City authorities who were working the scene and CSX said the locomotive crew was not injured.
The two on the train, a conductor and an engineer, were taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Of the four victims injured, three had serious injuries and one is in critical condition, the South Fulton Police source said.
The driver of the truck was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital by Grady EMS, Union City Fire said.
Witness Delmas Williams told Channel 2’s Tom Jones that the two aboard the truck were a father and son who had just left a tire shop.
“Both occupants were ejected from the tractor-trailer, the cab, as the cab was separated from the trailer,” said City of South Fulton Emergency Management Assistant Chief Jake Jenkins.
Witnesses said they head a loud boom and knew the train was pushing something down the tracks.
Jones reports that people who work at a tire shop say they ran over and pulled the two to safety.
People at the tire shop said the two aboard the truck were lucky to survive.
A South Fulton Police spokesperson said the truck was a tractor hauling a dump truck.
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Because of the large-scale of the scene, operations were divided between Union City and City of South Fulton fire crews, with Union City dealing with heavy fire conditions and burning, leaking fuel from the train and South Fulton handling initial patient care and extinguishing smaller fires.
A fire tanker from Fairburn also played a key role by supporting water operations, Union City authorities said..
Union City Fire Deputy Chief James Thompkins said the call came in at 2:26 p.m.
Earlier, a representative from the City of South Fulton said the two aboard the truck didn’t suffer life-threatening injuries.
Union City Fire had said previously the person in the truck was critically injured when it was hit by the train. First responders believed he was ejected from the truck by the collision.
Earlier, Union City Fire had said a truck passenger was able to get out of the vehicle before the train hit and sustained minor injuries.
Emergency crews are still on the scene investigating and trying to douse the fire on the train.
The impact separated the cab from the trailer, and there’s lots of debris from the trailer.
A city spokesperson said the train pushed the trailer a half-mile down the road into Union City.
An investigation is underway to determine how all of this happened.
A CSX spokesperson said the crash “resulted in an engine fire that was quickly contained and extinguished by the South Fulton Fire Department.”
Police and CSX personnel are on the scene conducting an investigation.
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