More than 22 hours after a train smashed into an 18-wheeler stuck on the tracks, a Gwinnett road is still closed, Norcross police said.
Eli Mercado was moving a family from Norcross to Florida about 5 p.m. Tuesday when the truck he drove got stuck on the tracks and resulted in a crash that he narrowly escaped.
Norcross police warned people to stay away from the downtown area Wednesday as crews cleaned up debris.
Officials are waiting for the railroad arm to be installed, Norcross police Sgt. Robert Braud said.
He expects the road to reopen later Wednesday afternoon, he said.
The crash, which did not result in any injuries, left Mercado “a little shaken up,” he told Channel 2 Action News. “I’m blessed that I’m still here.”
However, the family’s possessions were scattered along the Holcomb Bridge Road crossing at South Peachtree Street, the television station reported.
Mercado said he and his wife followed a GPS to the crossing and didn’t see a “no trucks” sign in the area until it was too late.
His truck got stuck, and Mercado tried to get it off the tracks. Officers screamed for him to get out of the truck as his wife had done, Channel 2 reported.
“Soon as I jumped out of the truck, maybe four seconds later,” the train drove through the trailer.
There have been other close calls at the same intersection, Norcross City Manager Rudolph Smith told Channel 2. He said the city council will meet next week to discuss changes to make the crossing safer.
“We have a plan which will build the grade up,” Smith said. “So if a truck happen to come through, we won’t have that situation that we have now.”
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