The van was a crumpled up mess; its back end mangled and destroyed. The truck's front end was completely smashed. But the train kept right on going. A woman from Humboldt and her two small children are lucky to be alive after a truck pushed her van into a train just west of Humboldt last week. It was at 6:15 p.m. on September 25, right as the sun was bright and low in the sky, that emergency crews were called to the scene of a collision approximately five kilometres west of Humboldt, where the rail line crosses the highway. A minivan carrying the woman, age 41, and her two children, aged 6 and 2, was stopped on the highway, facing west, waiting for a train to clear the crossing, when her vehicle was struck from behind by a westbound truck driven by a 23-year-old man from Viscount.Due to the force of the collision, the truck pushed the minivan into the side of the train. Miraculously, while both vehicles were destroyed, no one was seriously injured in the collision. The driver of the van had to be helped from her vehicle, but the others involved were already out of their vehicles when help arrived at the scene. The male driver and lone occupant of the truck was wearing a seatbelt, reported Derek Dagenais of Humboldt and District Ambulance Service, and the airbag on his truck did not deploy. Firefighters with the Humboldt Fire Department assisted HDAS personnel in placing the two adults and six-year-old child on spineboards as a precaution. Then all four involved in the crash were transported to Humboldt District Hospital in stable condition. One was then transported to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon for assessment of injuries, but in stable condition. The train was not damaged by the collision, and kept moving, the crew unaware that anything had happened. The crew was contacted about what had occurred when CN was notified and asked to stop further trains from going through the area until the scene could be cleared. Humboldt Fire Chief Norbert LeBlanc was one of the first emergency responders who arrived at the scene. A lot of people were there already, he said, passers-by who were assisting those involved in the crash. LeBlanc said he was surprised by the lack of serious injuries to those involved. Their dispatch said only "train versus vehicle," he explained, and usually in those situations there are very serious injuries, if not fatalities.He did note that the car seat the two-year-old was sitting in likely saved her life. The car seat, which protected the child when the seat was pushed forward by the impact of the crash, shows how important car safety seats can be. "It's very important to have kids strapped in," he noted. But car seats don't account for the lack of injuries to the others involved. "Somebody was looking out for them," LeBlanc said in explanation, a theory echoed by members of the other emergency services. The highway was closed around the scene for approximately three hours while RCMP examined the scene. The investigation into this collision is still ongoing, reported Humboldt RCMP. Charges are pending.
