FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Brightline train collided with a vehicle late Sunday night that was on the tracks in Fort Lauderdale, authorities confirmed.
The crash was reported just before midnight in the area of North Flagler Drive and East Sunrise Boulevard as the train was heading south, first responders confirmed.
Victor Carvalho was at a nearby bar and saw the accident.
“As we see the rails coming down, there was a car right behind and it was apparently, I don’t what happened, but she just went over the rails and immediately (I) start hearing the horns and boom, straight away, it just crashed straight onto her on the right side of the vehicle,” he said.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue officials said the car was dragged by the train to the 400 block of Northeast Flagler Drive.
The husband of the woman who was driving the red car told Local 10 News that the car became lodged underneath the train after the collision.
Surveillance video shows the moments after the train struck the car. You can see sparks flying as the Genesis is dragged down the tracks beneath the Brightline train.
FLFR officials said the woman was able to exit the car by herself and crews found her on the ground next to the vehicle when they arrived.
Carvalho, who just completed CPR, first aid, and firefighting training, raced to the scene to help the victim.
“My adrenaline just immediately kicked in and I knew from the start, of what I was trained from the course has taught me, I went straight to action,” he said. “I jump over the fence, I’m on 911 calling the operator, telling the whole situation. I escorted the lady on the floor as she opened the door herself, making sure she’s OK. I just made sure she sits upright, make sure she looks to the ground, make sure she looks at her feet, make sure she doesn’t go to a level where she’s passing out.”
According to the woman’s husband, she suffered a broken hand and busted lip, but is expected to be OK.
FLFR officials confirmed that the woman was transported to Broward Health Medical Center with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
A hair stylist at a nearby barbershop told Local 10 News that she’s never seen anything like this before.
“The Brightline train is just stopped right in front of me, and the car is just jammed right underneath. Actually, by a miracle, the driver’s seat where the driver was, was the only seat that wasn’t completely smacked by the train,” Madeline Abreu said.
The circumstances leading up to the collision remain under investigation.
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