Train collides with car Wednesday night

No injuries result from incident

By Erika Kirsch Western News Editor

A train collided with a late model Ford Econoline van Wednesday evening in Libby.

According to eyewitness Wendell Dull, who lives near the accident site at Three Corners Mobile Home Park, there were two occupants, a man and a woman, in the mid-60s model van driving along the tracks. The van came upon a pond along the tracks and when they couldn't get through the pond in the van they drove along the train tracks, Dull said. The driver of the van drove up on the train tracks, noticed a train was coming and attempted to back up, Dull said.

In the attempt to reverse, the van become stuck and the Burlington Northern Sante Fe train collided with the van at the Second Street exchange, with the occupants still in the van, Dull said. The train scraped the passenger side of the van and became hooked to aluminum trim on the van, Dull said.

The van was dragged approximately 75 feet by the train, Dull estimated. Eventually, the aluminum trim that was stuck on the train broke and the van was released from the trains grip, Dull said.

The two occupants were able to escape the vehicle from the driver's side of the van.

The male occupant, who appeared to be driving, ran from the vehicle, Dull said. The individual was a white male, in his mid to late 20s, approximately 160 to 175 pounds, with sandy blond hair, a beard and blue eyes, Dull said.

The woman stayed with the vehicle after exiting the van. She is approximately 5'5", 145 pounds and between 20-25 years old, Dull said. Lincoln County Sheriff's Deputy Matt White informed an on-scene reporter that the female occupant was Megan Swartz.

The van didn't have license plates and the vehicle identification number had been scraped off, Dull said.

According to the train engineer, the train was traveling at 45 miles per hour before it hit the van. The train was traveling at 37 miles per hour at the point of impact and it traveled 1/4-mile before it stopped.

No further information was available at press time.