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SANDY — An 80-year-old man died when a truck collided with a TRAX train Monday morning, police said.
The incident occurred near 8000 South and 100 East at about 11 a.m., according to Unified police Lt. Lex Bell.
"When officers arrived they found that it was a full-sized truck that was westbound had actually driven through the arms that were coming down — we don't know if the arms were already all the way down or if they were on the way down — and had been hit by the train at full speed," he said.
The driver of the truck, West Jordan resident Howard Glenn Hillam, was pronounced dead on the scene.
The train, which was carrying nine people at the time of the crash, was derailed, according to Bell. He said none of the passengers were injured, but the southbound tracks were heavily damaged.
One of the passengers, Zonith Shaw, was shaken up after the incident.
"I heard a loud smash and the whole entire first compartment started shaking and wobbling back and forth," he said. "I looked up and the guardrail to where (the driver) was supposed to stop was lying on the ground. I saw the back-end of a pickup fly up and hit the windshield right in front of the conductor."
.@UPD_Media said getting a crane to remove this truck would take at least several hours. Crews are working on it now pic.twitter.com/kt2znzDraa — Nkoyo Iyamba (@NkoyoKSL) September 7, 2015
As a result of the crash, the northbound and southbound TRAX lines in the area have been closed. A bus bridge has been established between Midvale Center and Historic Sandy Center.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Contributing: Nkoyo Iyamba
