Petal police investigating accident involving train and truck

PETAL, MS. - Petal police are investigating the cause of an accident that involved a train and truck around 11:30 a.m. Monday.

The accident happened on the train tracks between West 1st Avenue and Highway 11.

According to Lieutenant (Lt.) Josh Barham with the Petal Police Department the driver of the truck was inside his vehicle, but escaped before the train hit the front and back ends of the vehicle.

The man walked away from the scene with no injuries. Lt. Barham says its important to pay attention on the train tracks and obey all train signs.

"Best thing you can do if you cannot get off is try and get out."He added, "Like I said, it takes a while for these trains to stop, it is not like a car."

"It takes them a couple miles to get them shut down, pending if they are going fast enough. Like I said I am not sure about this one if they were heading to the yard over there so if they were at a slower speed to get it to stop as quick as they did.”

The cause of the accident is still under investigation. Lt. Barham says they will interview the driver and conductor of the train.

First responders at the scene were Petal Police, Petal Fire Department, and the Forrest County Sheriff's Department.