OAKVILLE -- One person is seriously hurt after a car and train collided in south St. Louis County.
Police say an Amtrak train t-boned the car at the crossing on Bussen Road Monday morning, just south of the Jefferson Barracks Bridge.
One person in the car walked away, the other was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The victim’s family identified him as 24-year old Kyle Syphax. They said he works on the barges and was just leaving a work shift in the area when the accident happened.
It was early in the morning, and the tracks run through Bussen Quarries -- an industrial area that borders the Mississippi River. Firefighters said the victim saw the train and accelerated to miss it. Instead, the train struck the back of the car.
“When it’s dark and you’re tired, you may not stop… at the right time,” said Syphax’s fiancé, Anissa Williams. “If you’re coming out there for the first time and its dark at night or dark in the morning, you may not even know it’s a railroad track.”
Family members also question whether the train had lights or sounded an alarm. NewsChannel5’s was unable to confirm those details Monday.
The railroad crossing has warning signs and a stop sign, but no crossing bar, lights, or sounds.
The Federal Railroad Administration says it’s a private crossing. Their records show four accidents on the tracks since the late 1970s.
The Chief of Mehlville's Fire Protection District points to another risk:
“I think the biggest problem down here is, people get desensitized to the fact that there [are] trains,” said Chief Brian Hendricks. “And it's easy-- they're driving loud equipment, they're driving large earth movers, and sometimes I think -- they just don't hear it.”
Syphax’s family said the father of two suffered broken bones in his neck, a fractured rib, and a partially collapsed lung. However, they expect him to recover without surgeries. Now, the family hopes to see more safety measures installed at the tracks.
NewsChannel 5 reached out to the quarry Monday evening to ask about the tracks, but was unable to reach them after-hours.
