Train crash, derailment closes highway, injures 3 UPDATE

Courtesy Wilson Co. Citizen — Train and gravel truck collision on Thursday morning -Photo courtesy Wilson Co. Citizen R. Relph

BENEDICT- Three people were injured in an accident just before 10:30 a.m. on Thursday in Wilson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Mack semi driven by Fred L. Smith, 63, Fredonia, was west bound on Kansas 39 when the truck was hit by the train.

Smith, and two on the train Michael W. Hayworth, 47, Kansas City, and Joshua L. Willard, 33, Greeley, were transported to the Fredonia Hospital.

The accident remains under investigation.

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BENEDICT, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say three people were hurt and taken to a hospital after a train hit a truck hauling gravel in southeast Kansas.

Wilson County officials said in a news release that the collision Thursday near Benedict also caused the train to derail, shutting down Kansas 39.

Wilson County Emergency Manager Terry Lyons says eight empty train cars and two engines jumped the tracks. The condition of the injured people wasn’t immediately known.