June 14, 1998
Filed by Bay Cities News Service
The Berkeley Police and Fire Department say that two people were injured after a Union Pacific freight train struck two vehicles that were stalled on the tracks.
A department spokesman said that the incidents began at approximately 12:41 a.m. in the area of University Avenue and Third Street when a car stalled on the train track.
After the occupants got out of the car, two people were attempting to push the car off the tracks when the southbound train struck the car and one of the people, he said.
The train then pushed at least part of the vehicle approximately 300 feet down the tracks to Addison and Third streets, where it apparently hit another car straddling the track.
The spokesman said that the man involved in the first collision suffered severe head injuries and an amputated foot. He was transported to Highland Hospital and is not expected to survive, according to police.
The driver of the second vehicle was also hurt, but his injuries were reportedly "not as serious," the spokesman said. After being treated and released from Alta Bates Hospital, he was arrested for drunk driving.
Union Pacific officials are handling the investigation.