TALLINN – The locomotive and three passenger wagons of the Moscow-Tallinn train went off the rails after the train hit a fuel truck at the Auvere crossing in northeastern Estonia in the morning of July 8, the Rescue Department reported.
A woman who was in the cabin of the truck was killed, while the driver was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Several of the train's 129 passengers required medical aid.The Rescue Department workers managed to stop the fuel leak and prevent the explosion.
Witnesses told The Baltic Times that the train operator failed to react and did not hit the brakes as the train hit the truck at the speed of about 100 kilometers per hour.
The truck cabin was ripped off the truck by the impact of the collision, and the locomotive went off the rails and fell on the side.
According to local residents, trucks often cross the Auvere crossing at high speed and pay little attention to train traffic.
The truck was carrying some 30 tons of oil-shale oil, a fuel used for heating purposes that is far less flammable than car fuel.
