An Arkansas man died when his tractor trailer was hit by a train at a McCurtain County crossing, authorities said.
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•James W. Wise, 32, Wickes, Ark.
Wise died at the scene of the accident, which occurred about 11:30 a.m. today, a few hundred feet south of Wright City, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.
Wise was driving south on State Highway 98 when he pulled on the railroad tracks in front of the train, troopers said.
Troopers don't know if Wise was wearing a seat belt.
The engineer of the 41-car train was seriously hurt. Lawrence Green, 48, of DeQueen, Ark., was taken by helicopter to a Texarkana, Texas, hospital.
The train's conductor, Kevin Sims, 42, of DeQueen, and brakeman, Tommy Chesney, 43, of Wright City, were treated and released from an Idabel hospital.
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This is terrible! An absolute tragedy. Rumors in McCurtain County indicate that the crossing lights (the warnings) had not been working properly for some time. Many residents had noticed this problem. My heart goes out to those families, and some action should be taken to investigate the reports. McCurtain County goes unnoticed so much here in central Oklahoma--they deserve justice.
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