BUCKLAND — Police are investigating the cause of a crash between a train and an SUV that sent a man to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries Monday evening.
Buckland Fire Chief Herb Guyette said it appears as though the man took a wrong turn at the end of West Purinton Road — a dead-end street — and drove half a mile down the train tracks before his vehicle made contact with the Pan Am train. Guyette said he was unsure how fast the train was moving at the time of the crash, but the driver of the SUV was not seriously injured.
“He was taken to the hospital for basic evaluation,” Guyette said.
The SUV, which was heavily damaged, had to be towed from the scene, and Guyette said the train will remain stationary until an investigation by railway and local police is complete.
The Buckland and Charlemont police and fire departments responded, as well as Charlemont ambulance and Shelburne Falls ambulance, which transported the victim to Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield.
Officials declined to release the driver’s name at the scene.