GET THE LATEST CTA AND TRAFFIC CONDITIONS
CHICAGO (CBS) - A car went off the road on the Eisenhower Expressway early Thursday and ended up on the CTA Blue Line tracks, where it was hit by a train. Nine people were reported injured.
Crews responded about 4:20 a.m. to a report of a crash with injuries on the inbound Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) near Austin Boulevard, Illinois State Police Trooper Matthew Kiewiet said.
Sgt. Michelle Tufenkjian said the chain of events began when a 2008 white Dodge Charger driven by Jose Rivera, 31, of the 1500 block of North 31st Street in Melrose Park, rear-ended a woman driving a 2007 Ford Taurus, causing them both to lose control, according to Tufenkjian.
The woman struck a guardrail, but Rivera "flipped over onto the tracks,'' according to Tufenkjian. Stangl said he jumped the embankment before landing on the CTA Blue Line tracks.
The crash occurred in a construction zone where the speed limit is 45 miles per hour. The woman was not cited.
Sixty-year-old Edmundo Mendoza, of the 2700 block South Lombard Avenue in Cicero, was driving behind the woman and Rivera and saw them spin out, causing Mendoza to hit a concrete median, according to Tufenkjian.
Rivera got out of the car and took off. The car was abandoned for a few minutes when the train hit it.
Rivera was cited with improper lane usage and no insurance but further citations are pending. Though Rivera was probably driving too fast for conditions, alcohol or drugs is not suspected, Tufenkjian said.
The passengers on the train were held so that paramedics could examine each of them. The train operator was taken out in a stair chair and placed in an ambulance. The extent of the operator's injuries have not been learned.
Fire Department spokesman Joe Roccasalva said a total of nine people, from both the train and the accident, were taken in good to fair condition to Loretto Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital and West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park. Twenty-four people refused treatment.
Shortly after 5:30 a.m., another train came, and passengers jumped out of the damaged train and climbed into another one.
There were relatively few passengers aboard, since the train was headed outbound and was only a couple of miles from the end of its run.
The car was left wedged under the train with its back wheels in the air. It is unknown how the car became airborne and climbed so far over the tracks that it ended up in the path of the train.
Crews pulled the car out from under the train around 6 a.m.
Only a couple of left lanes were getting by on the inbound Eisenhower, which was jam packed and tied up with emergency vehicles.
Most of the traffic lanes had been reopened by 6 a.m. Stangl said the inbound ramp from Austin Boulevard would remain closed for some time.
Motorists are advised to get on the inbound Eisenhower at Central Avenue rather than Austin to avoid the backup. Madison Street and Roosevelt Road can also be used as alternate routes, and as of 5:15 a.m., backups were mounting on both roads.
Meanwhile, the power was shut off to the Blue Line, and a shuttle was placed into use between the Harlem and Pulaski stops. By 6:15 a.m., a single track was back in use from Austin to Pulaski.
The train also sustained front-end damage and derailed slightly. Crews were working to remove the damaged parts of the train around 6:30 a.m.
Roccasalva said an EMS Plan 1, which automatically sends five ambulances to the scene, was initiated at 4:32 a.m. in response to the people on the train.
Police believe rain was likely a factor in the crash.
CBS 2's Susan Carlson, Kris Habermehl and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
E-Mail Story
Print Story
