YATES CENTER — A Union Pacific train derailed Monday morning after striking a tractor-trailer rig hauling grain south of Yates Center.
The truck driver, Gregory Lewis, 63, of Leon, was transported to Allen County Regional Hospital in Iola for what was described as suspected minor injuries.
There were no injuries aboard the train, which reported five engines and 21 cars either damaged or destroyed.
The Kansas Highway Patrol said Lewis failed to yield to the oncoming train while he was eastbound on 80th Road, about three miles southeast of Yates center.
The truck had cleared the crossing, but the trailer did not, when it was struck by the oncoming train.
The impact caused the truck and trailer to split, KHP reported, with the truck coming to rest in a ditch on the east side of the tracks.
Emergency crews were on the scene within minutes to find the wreckage, including a series of box cars piled on top of each other like collapsed dominoes.
No hazardous materials were involved. Union Pacific spokesman Mike Jaixen told KOAM-TV most of the rail cars were empty, but some were carrying cottonseed, plastic pellets and fertilizer. The train was hauling 95 cars in total.
Maria Stoll, who lives yards away from the crossing, was home when the accident occurred at 10:10 a.m., describing the “terrible sound” of the collision.
Personnel from the Woodson County Sheriff’s Department, Kansas Highway Patrol, Woodson County EMS and Woodson County Rural Fire responded.
Cleanup crews from Union Pacific were on the scene not long after to begin the arduous task of removing the mangled wreckage and repairing the tracks.
As of Tuesday morning, the intersection remained closed.
Union Pacific said in a notice to its customers along the rail line between Garnett and Neodesha that service was expected to be disrupted for a minimum of 48 hours, with a limited reroute plan to move shipments around the affected area.
