By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Centralia police acting on a tip spoke to a male overnight who said he was a passenger in the dump truck struck by a train yesterday evening in Centralia.
He said they ran off because they were scared, Officer John Panco said.
Police were called just after 6 p.m. yesterday to a railroad crossing on Floral Street where they found a wrecked large dump truck, but no driver.
The 1965 International dump truck suffered severe front end damage and a crossing arm was bent. The freight train which had kept going subsequently discovered a rupture in one of the cars, spilling soybeans.
Panco said a 200-foot-long trail of what might have been brake fluid suggested the accident may have been cause by a brake failure.
Officers spoke to the male in Chehalis, got a name of the supposed driver and are following up to confirm what happened, according to Panco.
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For background, read “Truck versus train in Centralia” from Thursday March 22, 2012 at 8:05 p.m., here [1]