RENO, Nev. — Lance Powell considers himself lucky -- very lucky.

Powell, his wife, Becky, and their 2½-month-old son were aboard the Amtrak passenger train that was struck by a semitrailer Friday at a highway crossing in rural Nevada.

The collision on U.S. 95 about 70 miles east of Reno killed the driver of the semi trailer and six people aboard the train.

"If that truck were two or three seconds later or if the train was going 5 or 10 mph faster than it was, that truck could have impacted into our car," Powell, of Woods Cross, said in a telephone interview Saturday. "We wouldn't be here today."

Powell and his infant son were in the observation area, about three cars back from where the truck slammed into the train. Becky Powell was farther away from the collision, sleeping in one of the cars at the rear of the train.

Lance Powell said he was looking out the window on the opposite side of the train at the moment of impact, so he didn't see the truck collide with the train. But he heard it, and he felt it.

"It felt like somebody just knocked me off my feet, pushing me from behind," he said.

Seconds later, Powell said he felt a surge of heat on his back, and he turned around to see flames and black smoke surrounding the car.

"I instantly jumped on my feet, ran down the aisle, trying to get to the back of the train as quickly as I could to my wife," he said.

The train was buzzing with passengers wondering what had happened, Powell said.

"It was obvious we hit something, but nobody told us what was going on," he said.

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Then came the announcements over the train's public- address system, first telling passengers to move to the front of the train, then instructing them to go to the train's rear. Then came a call for anyone with medical training to work their way to the front of the train.

"It was really confusing," Powell said. "It seemed like nobody really knew what was going on, and nobody knew what to do."

Once the train came to a halt, Amtrak officials began evacuating the train, he said. It was then that Powell said he could see the extent of the damage, as well as the number of people who had been injured.

A group of people had gathered together to provide shade for an injured woman who had sustained a large head wound and was unconscious, he said.

"At that point, it really started to hit me," Powell said. "This is serious. There are people dying."

The Powells had left Salt Lake City on Thursday morning and were traveling to Oakland, Calif., to attend Lance's sister's wedding.

They were stranded in the middle of the desert, along with other train passengers, for nearly three hours before buses picked them up and took them to a hospital to get checked for injuries.

The stranded passengers then were taken to a school, where they waited in a gymnasium for buses to arrive. During that time, the Powells met "a very nice couple" who offered to drive them to Reno.

From there, the Powells rented a car and drove the rest of the way to Oakland — arriving in time for the wedding.

"Coming away from this, I'm thinking we were watched over," Lance Powell said.

The Powell's will travel back to Salt Lake City on Monday; however, they won't be taking a train. Instead, the family bought plane tickets.

The Churchill County (Nev.) Sheriff's Office has confirmed that six people were killed in the accident. The names of the victims have not been released, pending notification of their families.

The Washoe County Medical Examiner's Office in Reno plans to perform an autopsy on the truck driver's body. His name also has not been released.

Federal record reveal that the trucking company has been cited repeatedly by authorities for crashes, unsafe driving and operating a truck with tires so bald it was taken off the road.

Initial witness reports claimed the driver never tried to brake, but skid marks now prove he slid approximately 300 feet before hitting the train.

Authorities say there are still 28 people unaccounted for, but authorities suspect many of them could have left the scene without informing them or got off the train at a previous stop.

The investigation is still ongoing and could take up to a year before details become clear.

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Story written by Keith McCord and Jared Page with contributions from Sarah Dallof.

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