NEWS

1 injured in morning train wreck in Lamar County

Lici Beveridge
Breaking News Reporter

A Lamar County sanitation truck driver was injured in a train collision Thursday morning.

Pieces of metal from a sanitation truck sit on the side of the railroad tracks after being hit  by a Norfolk Southern engine on Jude Brewer Road in Lumberton Thursday.

The incident occurred around 9:51 a.m. at 103 Jude Brewer Road in Lumberton, Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel said.

The collision involved a Norfolk Southern train, which was traveling northbound with two locomotives and four loaded freight cars, said Dave Pidgeon, a Norfolk Southern spokesman.

He said there were two crew members on the train but neither were injured.

The driver of the sanitation truck was taken to Forrest General Hospital with unknown injuries.

Two other sanitation workers were on the back of the truck but were able to jump off before the collision, Rigel said. They were not injured.

Pidgeon said he did not have information on how fast the train was going, but "that stretch of track was rated at 50 mph."

The incident remains under investigation by the Lamar County Sheriff's Department.