SUV pushed several blocks after train collision in Brookston

BROOKSTON, Ind. (WLFI) – Emergency crews are on scene of a train crash in Brookston.

The crash, which involves an SUV and a train, happened around 11:15 a.m. at the crossing at Eighth and Railroad streets. But authorities said the impact of the crash pushed the vehicle down the tracks near the crossing at Fourth and Railroad streets.

White County Sheriff Pat Shafer said even though the lights at the railroad crossing were working, the woman driving the SUV still attempted to cross the tracks. The SUV then collided with the train and was carried almost four blocks, or about a quarter of a mile, down the tracks.

Sheriff Shafer said the woman was taken to a Lafayette hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. She was the only person in her vehicle.

There were two engineers operating the train in the front cab, but both of them were uninjured. The train itself doesn’t appear to have sustained much damage.

As a heads up to parents picking up their children from Frontier Elementary School, Frontier School Corporation Superintendent Dan Sichting said the Eighth Street railroad crossing will be closed for several hours.