[Fair use for education and research purpose only]

Web posted Thursday, March 30, 2000

Title: Train hits pickup; man hurt

By Debbie Ingram Long The Examiner

A local man struck by a train in Grain Valley this morning is in good condition after being extricated from his vehicle and flown to the hospital for treatment.

Russell Chapman, 24, of the Grain Valley and Oak Grove area, was northbound in a pickup truck when he was struck by a Gateway Western Railroad train at the Main Street crossing at 5:38 a.m.

Chapman was taken to Research Medical Center in Kansas City with chest pains and an open leg wound, according to members of the Grain Valley Police Department.

By 9 a.m., Chapman had been assigned to a room and was reported in good condition. A woman who answered the telephone in Chap man's room this morning said he was "alert and talking."

Firefighters and emergency workers arrived at the scene at 5:51 a.m., according to Lorn M. Dennis, assistant chief with the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District.

"The vehicle was struck on the passenger's side, and the truck was moved quite a ways P a couple of hundred feet P down the railroad tracks," said Dennis. "The vehicle came to rest on its top with the driver entrapped inside."

During the rescue, Dennis said, Chapman was conscious and communicating with emergency personnel.

"He was extricated from the vehicle by 6:10," said Dennis.

Traffic was blocked for more than two hours because of the accident. The train blocked both crossings in Grain Valley until about 8 a.m.

To reach Debbie Ingram Long, send e-mail to dlong@examiner.net or call 224-7211.

Copyright 1999 The Examiner

http://examiner.net/stories/033000/new_033000011.shtml

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-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), March 31, 2000