NEW ROCKFORD, N.D. — The driver of a BNSF maintenance-of-way vehicle was killed Monday, Nov. 4, when the vehicle was struck by a train, KFGO Radio reports.
The collision occurred about 11 a.m. Eddy County Sheriff Paul Lies told the station that the vehicle was hit when it was backing across railroad tracks about 2.5 miles northwest of New Rockford. The driver of was pronounced dead at the scene; a passenger suffered unknown injuries and was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Carrington, N.D., about 20 miles away.
The individual killed was identified as Darrin Polansky, 58, of Brainerd, Minn., by Lies on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The injured passenger is 53-year-old Chad Chandler of Baldwin, Wis.
The National Transportation Safety Board, in announcing that it will investigate the incident, said the vehicle involved was a welder’s truck. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes says in a post on its website that Polansky is survived by a wife and two children. “The entirety of our Brotherhood sends our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” the BMWED says.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been launched to benefit Polansky’s wife and children.
The union also says Chandler is expected to recover.
New Rockford is about 116 miles northwest of Fargo, N.D., and 80 miles southeast of Minot on BNSF’s KO Subdivision.
— Updated Nov. 5 at 4:50 p.m. CT with name accident victims; updated at 5:55 p.m. with information from BMWED; updated Nov. 7 with GoFundMe information.
