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Mount Prospect/Des Plaines train accident 5-13-11
The image with ID "attachment_5929" is a captioned photo showing the lead car of a commuter train that jumped the tracks and leaned heavily. The photo, titled "MTPR-DESP_5_5-13-TO," was taken by Tim Olk. Despite the damage, the train remained upright, though it had partially derailed after colliding with a dump truck at the Mt. Prospect Road crossing near Northwest Highway this morning.
Emergency services from both Mount Prospect and Des Plaines Fire Departments were quickly on the scene, setting up a unified command to manage the response. Tragically, the truck driver, identified as Kazimierz Karasek, 59, from Prospect Heights, was killed at the location. Multiple train passengers were taken to local hospitals with various injuries, though none were life-threatening. As the number of injured increased, the emergency response escalated from an EMS Box Alarm to a 5th Alarm. A PACE bus was also dispatched to transport patients who were triaged as “green†— indicating minor injuries.
The collision occurred around 8:40 a.m., when Metra train No. 636, heading inbound from Harvard, struck the dump truck at the intersection of Seger and Northwest Highway in Mount Prospect. According to police, the gates at the crossing were functioning properly, and the truck driver appears to have ignored them, driving around the barriers. This led to a dangerous situation where the truck’s cab ended up directly on the tracks, resulting in a catastrophic collision.
The Chicago Tribune reported that all train cars remained upright, but at least 29 passengers were hospitalized, while 10 others were treated on-site. The engineer was listed in critical condition. The truck, which was carrying a load of concrete, turned left onto Mount Prospect Road and through the crossing despite the gates being down and signals active.
A similar accident involving a dump truck occurred at the same intersection nearly 10 years ago, according to local officials. In today’s incident, the truck driver not only ignored the gates but also violated a “No Left Turn†sign, forcing the vehicle into the northbound lanes to bypass the northern gate. This action led to the truck being struck head-on by the train, causing significant damage to both vehicles.
Tim Olk and Larry Shapiro were on the scene and captured several powerful images. One shows fuel splashing along the train's exterior and igniting the first two cars. Another captures the derailment of the first car from a southeast view, while another provides a northwest perspective of the entire train at rest. Additional photos show the severe damage to the truck, including its cab being sheared off and thrown over 50 feet away.
Larry Shapiro’s photos also highlight the aftermath of the crash, including paramedics tending to injured passengers across the highway and the fire-damaged windows of the train that helped protect the passengers inside. One image shows a fuel tank from the truck lodged beneath the first car, contributing to the fire.
For more photos from the scene, visit Tim Olk’s gallery HERE and Larry Shapiro’s gallery HERE. You can also find radio traffic from the incident HERE.