At least 18 injured when Amtrak train, 18-wheeler collide in Texas

LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas — At least 18 people were injured when an Amtrak train bound for New Orleans collided with an 18-wheel tractor-trailer Friday, authorities said.

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"It was like a mini-earthquake. I never heard the house shake like that," Aline Gonzalez, who lives nearby, told KTRK.

The incident occurred at 3:55 p.m. when the train, headed east from Los Angeles, collided with the truck in Dayton, according to the Liberty County Sheriff's Office.

An Amtrak spokesman said the train, which was carrying 70 people was not derailed or lose power but it was damaged, WPRC reported. The tractor-trailer was pushed off the road and into a ditch and was split in half, according to KTRK.

Authorities said 17 train passengers and the truck driver were taken to an area hospital with minor injuries, WPRC reported.

There are no arms or lights at the crossing and residents did not hear a train horn, KTRK reported.

"My heart dropped. I can tell you that my heart dropped," Gisselle Hernandez, who lives next to the tracks, told the television station. "I thought the train came off the tracks and was going to hit the house."

Cox Media Group