Man injured after truck collides with train

Published 2:12 pm Saturday, December 29, 2012

A GMC Sonoma pickup is about to be towed after a train vs. truck crash Saturday afternoon north of Clarks Grove. -- Kelli Lageson/Albert Lea Tribune

CLARKS GROVE — A man sustained serious injuries after his truck collided with a train Saturday afternoon.

Authorities said the man was breathing and alert but was transported to Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea by ambulance. Officials identified the man as 43-year-old David Martin Christensen, of Ellendale.

Christensen was the sole occupant in a gray 1991 GMC Sonoma. The pickup was traveling eastbound on 775th Avenue, a gravel road a few miles north of Clarks Grove, when it crashed into a southbound Union Pacific train around 12:15 p.m. Saturday.

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A railroad crossing sign was damaged in the crash. There are no railroad crossing arms or lights at the intersection.

Both Clarks Grove and Geneva fire departments responded. Ambulance crews from Ellendale and from Albert Lea responded, as well as the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office and Minnesota State Patrol.