West Fargo police plan to call in a specialist to reconstruct the moments leading up to a fatal vehicle accident Thursday night.
A man, who has not been identified, drove a sport utility vehicle into a westbound BNSF Railway train at Ninth Street Northeast. A caller told police at 7:44 p.m. there was a burning vehicle in the ditch at the railroad crossing.
Police were fairly positive of the man's identity, but wanted to wait for autopsy results before releasing his name, Detective Tim Runcorn said.
Fire engulfed the SUV, with the man still inside, by the time police and emergency workers arrived on scene.
The man likely died before the fire, Runcorn said.
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Rain started to fall about the time of the accident, and the roads were wet, although the temperature was 37 degrees.
The driver, who was southbound, hit the 23rd car of the train. The train's crew didn't immediately know about the collision and stopped outside of Mapleton, N.D.
The double-hulled tanker car, which was carrying carbon dioxide, sustained minimal damage. The outer hull was punctured by the collision but the inner hull remained intact, Runcorn said.
On Friday, the Becker County Sheriff's Department identified Nicole Ziegler of Frazee as the victim in a vehicle-train collision Thursday east of Detroit Lakes.
Slippery road conditions caused Ziegler's vehicle to slide onto the tracks, where it was struck by a westbound BNSF train, the Sheriff's Department said. Ziegler, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene. Obituary, Page B4.
