Norfolk Southern conductor killed in Ohio train crash

Norfolk Southern Norfolk Southern Corp. signage is displayed on the side of a locomotive in Waddy, Kentucky, on Friday, Oct. 16, 2015. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)

By Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

CLEVELAND — A Norfolk Southern conductor died Tuesday morning after being struck by a dump truck as a train was crossing a facility in Cleveland, company officials said.

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Norfolk Southern said Louis Shuster died after being injured at the Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland Works property early on Tuesday.

“We are grieving the loss of a colleague today,” the company said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to his loved ones during this extremely difficult time.”

An official at Cleveland-Cliffs, a company that produces flat-rolled steel and supplies iron ore pellets, told WOIO that the dump truck collided with the train around 1:20 a.m. Police told the news station that the truck hit the front left side of the first car of the train.

At the time of the crash, Shuster was on the outside of the front left side of the train car, according to WOIO. The condition of the dump truck driver was not immediately known, WHIO-TV reported.

Officials with the Federal Railroad Administration, National Transportation Safety Board and Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the crash, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement posted on social media.

“Our thoughts are with the family facing this preventable tragedy,” Buttigieg said.

The incident Tuesday marked the third involving Norfolk Southern trains in Ohio in just over a month, WPXI reported. Last month, a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed near East Palestine, prompting evacuations and ongoing environmental concerns. On Saturday, another of the company’s trains derailed near Springfield, according to WPXI.

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