An Amazon delivery driver is lucky to be alive after a train sliced his van in two on his 33rd birthday.
The crash happened last Wednesday near Ixonia in Wisconsin.
Driver Alexander Evans told WISN 12 News that when the Amtrak train smashed into his van, he felt air and pressure. Still in shock, he told the reporter: “I didn’t know what to feel”.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, Evans posted pictures of the wreckage to his page, as well as a map showing how his route took him across a railway crossing.
Speaking to the reporter, he said he checked the track was clear as he approached the junction and saw nothing coming.
As he’s deaf in his left ear, he didn’t hear the train’s horn at first but then heard “one long beep” and accelerated in a bid to make it out of the train’s path.
Evans said he still can’t believe he’s alive, and said it would be a special Thanksgiving this year.
Aerial footage shows that the front of the van was flung towards the next intersection as the back of the van remained wrapped around the front of the train.
Speaking to TMJ4 News Ben Bellack said he was working from home when he heard what sounded like a gunshot outside his house.
Bellack said: “I looked out the window and I saw that there was a half of an Amazon van in the middle of the road.
“I grabbed my keys, got in the car, drove down there as quick as I could expecting to - who knows what I was going to see - I look around and the guy was in the front seat and I was like ‘are you okay?’ and he was like ‘yeah’.”
None of the train’s 129 passengers or 12 crew members were hurt in the smash.
The train continued on its journey to Chicago after around four hours.
According to WISN 12 News there are no signals, lights, or warning sounds at the crossing where the smash happened, and Evans now hopes to see something put in place to alert drivers of potential dangers in the future.
Indy100 has reached out to Amazon and Amtrak for comment.
