HURLOCK, Md. -- Just before 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning a tractor trailer was t-boned at a railroad crossing. The accident essentially split the grain truck in half, with the front and back ends on opposite sides of the tracks.
Remarkably, everyone walked away from the incident unscathed.
Eyewitnesses on the scene described a chaotic and unexpected event. Deontra Quailes heard the accident from a nearby barbershop.
"Man, I was sitting here and everything went down, and I just heard a big boom, then I looked back and that's what happened," said Quailes.
Allan Evans Jr. witnessed the collision.
"I just came out from getting my hair shaped up, and when I walked up, I saw it pushing [the truck] down the track," said Evans Jr. "The truck was trying to beat the train, and the truck didn't beat the train, and as soon as it hit, it just pushed it right down here."
Hurlock's Police Chief Bruce Jones told WBOC that they are still investigating the cause of the collision.
Cathrin Banks, President and General Counsel for Maryland and Delaware Railroad Company, issued a statement to WBOC, expressing relief nobody was hurt, as well as confidence in the train operators' experience. Banks stated, "I have every reason to believe that they did everything they were supposed to do approaching the crossing."
The driver of the grain truck declined to speak with us.
The aftermath of the collision prompted a significant cleanup effort, attracting onlookers like Christopher Lappost.
"It's surprising because we don't really have this kind of stuff, we don't have these surprises down in this little town of Hurlock," said Lappost.
Banks emphasized the importance of staying alert when approaching railroad crossing, a point that was made clear today.
