Danger on the tracks

A history of accidents across the tracks, the City of Biloxi discusses the future of certain crossings following Tuesday’s fatal collision.
Witnesses of Tuesday’s fatal accident recount the hectic and tragic moment of a CSX freight train colliding into a tour bus filled with senior citizens. Witness John Kemp said, “They were hurt. They were bleeding, probably had broken limbs. They had ladders up to the window and people had to back out and crawl down the ladders to get out and that’s when it was really hurting them because they were having to move and that’s when the pain kicked in I guess when the adrenaline came down.”
Debris lingers at the scene of the fatal collision in Biloxi as questions continue to rise of what caused this accident. This is not the first time a tour bus has gotten stuck at the intersection of Main Street and Esters Boulevard. City of Biloxi Public Affairs Manager Vincent Creel said, “In March of 2016 where a tour bus carrying 28 people became lodged on the tracks right here.”
Fortunately the bus was evacuated and they stopped trains coming through the area, but most recently in January a Pepsi truck was not so lucky. “When you drive through east Biloxi you can see crossings pretty much at every street corner so what we want to do is reduce the number of crossings to minimize the chances of this happening,” said Creel.
Biloxi Mayor Andrew ‘FoFo’ Gilich announced in February an initiative to close six crossings in Biloxi. This particular crossing has bells, flashing lights, and a crossing bar plus two signs stating “low ground clearance” with a picture of a large truck lodged on the truck as a warning to drivers. “Right down the street we have Caillavet Street which is a four lane boulevard that the city has invested millions of dollars in that’s an easy crossing for vehicles of all types. Why did the driver take Main Street? We don’t know that, that’s going to be part of the investigation,” said Creel.
One of the many questions on this tragic accident.