Fiery Crash Involving Car and Train Leave Two Dead

One occupant narrowly escaped being hit by the train, while two perished.

Photo: Canby Fire

(CANBY, Ore.) - An Amtrak train struck a car Friday night at the Canby intersection of NE 4th Ave and Hwy 99E, at about 10:20 PM. The vehicle erupted in flames upon impact, and was pushed nearly 1450 feet down the train tracks, burning the entire time.

According to Canby Fire, when firefighters arrived the train was stopped just west of the intersection and the vehicle and nose of the train were fully involved in fire.

Only a few of the 50 occupants on board the Amtrak train had been evacuated when firefighters received word that there was 2000 gallons of diesel fuel in the engine, very close to where the fire was burning. Firefighters quickly assisted with evacuating the train and checking all of the occupants for injuries. No injuries were reported.

The evacuated occupants were relocated to the Clackamas County Fairground where they received comfort measures until they were taxied to Eugene, their final destination.

Officials report multiple eye-witnesses reports that they saw a gold colored Mitsubishi car was leaving the Clackamas County Fairgrounds and turn southbound onto the railroad tracks.

The vehicle either stalled or became stuck and one of the occupants got out of the car and attempted to push the vehicle free of the tracks.

The occupant outside the vehicle was able to narrowly escape just prior to the train colliding at 70 MPH with the rear of the vehicle.

The remaining two occupants of the car were declared deceased after fire suppression activities.

The deceased are both Hispanic adult males who reside in Woodburn. Their names are not being released at this time pending identification and notification of next of kin. It is expected that their identity will be released Monday, August 25th.

Canby Fire District called in its Fire Chaplain to assist with grief management and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. The Clackamas County Crash Reconstruction and Forensic Team (CRAFT) Team is investigating the accident in cooperation with Union Pacific Railroad and Amtrak.