VENTURA : Driver Hurt in Train Collision
A Southern Pacific Railroad train smashed into a pickup truck stopped on the track near the Ventura County Fairgrounds Thursday afternoon, police said, injuring the driver and mangling the vehicle.
Ventura resident Linda Menjivar, 49, was thrown from her truck at the Olive Street crossing about 1:30 p.m. when a northbound freight train hauling 18-wheeler truck trailers plowed into it, Ventura Police Officer John Snowling said. Menjivar landed on a muddy gravel embankment next to the tracks. She was taken to Ventura County Medical Center, where hospital officials listed her in critical condition early Thursday evening.
The impact smashed the front end of the truck and hurled it onto Front Street, a service road running parallel to the tracks, Snowling said. Police said they don’t know why Menjivar stopped on the tracks, but said the train’s engineer had sounded the train whistle several times in warning when he saw the truck. No one was injured on the train.
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