7 hurt after crash between car, 2 Metro Transit trains in downtown Minneapolis

Emergency responders were at the scene of a crash between a car and two light rail trains Monday night at an intersection near U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis.

Metro Transit spokesman Drew Kerr told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS one occupant of the car was badly injured, while the other is expected to be OK. Five passengers aboard the light rail trains also suffered minor injuries.

Kerr said around 9 p.m., a car headed west on Portland Avenue entered the intersection at South Fifth Street and was struck by southbound and northbound LRTs.

As a result, the car was lodged between the trains.

Responders extracted two people from the car and took them to the hospital.

“Next thing it’s like you hear brakes — screech, and then a big old bang,” one LRT passenger told KSTP-TV. “And then they let us off… make sure we were okay and stuff.”

A passenger said she believed the people inside the car were pulled through the vehicle’s windshield by first responders.

The scene was clear by 10:30 p.m., Kerr said, and an investigation is now underway, and will include looking at the rail and traffic signals at that intersection were displaying at the time of the crash. The investigation may take several weeks to complete.

According to Kerr, the drivers of the trains involved have been placed on administrative leave, which he adds is a standard procedure.

Metro Transit officials say there have been more than 415 collisions involving trains since 2004, and the train operator’s actions are said to be the primary cause of nine of those crashes.

A 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS photographer arrived at the scene at the same time as a tow truck crew that was there to move the trains and car. Images of the aftermath can be seen below.

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