A Kennedale truck driver remained in critical condition Monday, three days after his flatbed truck and an Amtrak Texas Eagle collided at a private crossing in west Arlington.
The 32-year-old driver was scheduled to have his third surgery at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.Raan Hunter suffered a severe head injury in Friday's wreck, but he was breathing on his own at times, his wife, Megan Hunter, said in a telephone interview Monday.Megan Hunter said her husband's brain still has swelling.Hunter also suffered a broken left leg, a lacerated liver and broken ribs and sternum. He suffered numerous other internal injuries and bruises.In the wreck, which happened about 5 p.m. Friday, the truck's cab was wedged beneath the train and dragged about 300 feet.Megan Hunter said the family still didn't know how the accident occurred.The wreck was being investigated by Union Pacific police because it was not on an Arlington city street, but at a private crossing near West Division and Dottie Lynn Parkway that leads to Howell Farms, an events facility. Union Pacific officials could not be reached.None of the 141 passengers on the Chicago-to-San-Antonio train initially reported injuries, Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said. The train did not jump the tracks, and the power remained on.When Amtrak inspectors determined that the seven cars on the train were safe to move, a second engine was brought in to tow them to the station in downtown Fort Worth. The cars began moving about 8 p.m. Friday.The passengers were to be taken by bus to San Antonio. The Texas Eagle left Chicago on Thursday.It was the second collision in that area and the third on the Union Pacific line since October, when an engineer in an eastbound locomotive disregarded a warning signal and struck a parked train.No one was hurt in that crash, but three engines and five rail cars were damaged, and part of Division Street was shut down for about a day.In February, another Union Pacific train derailed in central Arlington, spilling corn syrup, shutting down several key thoroughfares and snarling traffic for hours.This report contains information from Star-Telegram archives.Domingo Ramirez Jr., 817-390-7763Twitter: @mingoramirezjr.
Arlington looks to improve railroad crossing safety
Amtrak train, truck collide on Union Pacific tracks in Arlington
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