Watch: A CSX Train Smashes Through a Stalled Semi in Downtown Decatur, and Nobody Was Hurt

The Full Story

The crash happened around 8:45 a.m. Thursday near the crossing at North McDonough Street and West Howard Avenue, just off West College Avenue and close to Agnes Scott College. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a middle school and a high school sit within 200 yards of the crossing.

In the video, the train hits the side of the white trailer and rips through it. Cargo bursts out across the tracks. A CSX spokesperson told CBS News Atlanta the semi was unoccupied, and Decatur police Lt. John Bender told Atlanta News First the driver was able to get out before the train hit.

Treshaun Roberts, who said he was stopped at a red light nearby, told Storyful he started filming when he noticed the truck revving loudly without moving, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. He said he saw the truck begin to smoke a little before the driver got out and ran to safety.

Neighbors heard it before they saw it. “After we heard the kaboom, we thought it was thunder,” Chelsea Jones told WSB-TV. Decatur fire officials told the station that nobody was hurt, and CSX said the train crew wasn’t injured.

The cleanup took a while. The city closed several downtown intersections, including West Howard Avenue between North McDonough Street and Commerce Drive, and the Stone Mountain Trail section nearby. Authorities have not said why the truck was stopped on the tracks, and the crash remains under investigation.