MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) – Police in Bartlett, Tennessee, say the driver of a funeral home limousine is responsible for a crash with a CSX train that sent several people to the hospital with serious injuries.
The limo was carrying a family to a funeral when it collided with the train on April 17. Six adults and an infant were injured in the crash.
Police cited the limo driver as well as the drivers of two vehicles and a motorcycle escorting the funeral procession.
According to a number of witnesses, the light was red, and the railroad warnings were active
when two Chargers leading the procession entered the intersection and crossed over the tracks.
They stated they also saw the driver of one of the Chargers wave to other vehicles in the funeral procession to cross. The motorcycle was seen entering the intersection, but did not cross the tracks.
A man outside a nearby business said he heard the train horn blowing when the limo crossed the tracks and watched it collide with the train.
Police said the train was approximately 1,025 feet from the crossing when it began sounding the horn.
The accident report shows the train hit the passenger side of the limo, causing it to travel southbound beside the train. The limo then traveled along a ditch next to the track, where it ran into a wooden fence and finally a large tree.
Various injuries were reported among the seven people inside the limo: the infant sustained two cuts on her head, and other injuries among the passengers included broken wrists, a shattered pelvis, broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
After the crash occurred, a family member told Nexstar’s WREG it was a blessing that no one died.
“To see this mangled up car and to see how it was hit, [I] instantly thought thanks and praise God,” Aishia Shabree said. “Because we could have been planning more funerals.”
Bartlett police are citing the three escort drivers and the limo driver for failure to obey a railroad signal. Investigators said their actions were a direct cause of this crash.