It’s not something you hear about every day. An Amtrak train barreled into an Amazon delivery van, slicing the Amazon van into two. Miraculously, no one was seriously injured in the Wisconsin crash. Pictures of the accident aftermath show the cab of an Amazon delivery truck, sliced off from the rest of the van. Had the train hit just a little bit in front of where it did, the driver likely would not have survived. How does something like this happen? And how did the Amazon delivery driver escape death, or at least serious injury?

The Amazon driver didn’t know the train was coming

The accident happened in Ioxnia, Wisconsin, on River Valley Road. The Amazon delivery driver, Alexander Evans, said he didn’t hear the Amtrak train coming until it was almost too late.

“Yeah, it just, boom,” said Evans, according to WISN. When asked what he heard and felt when the enormous train hit his relatively small delivery truck, he said, “Just air and the pressure. I felt the airbags. I didn’t know what to feel, to be honest with you.”

The train came from Evans’ left as he attempted to cross over the tracks. Since Evans says he is deaf in his left ear, he didn’t hear the train approaching – or its horn.

The Amtrak accident sliced the Amazon van in half

The train tracks cut through a road where there are no lights or warning signals to notify drivers that there is a train coming. Evans says that there isn’t a clear view of the railroad tracks from the side road where he was pulling out of. Evans pulled out onto the train tracks without realizing that there was a train coming. He said, “I made a look as I was going down the hill to swerve, and I didn’t see anything. He was on my left side.”

The train operator saw Evans and sounded the horn. “Literally, it was like one long beep, horn from the train, and I put my foot on the gas, kind of like trying. I don’t know how far I’m going to get away from him,” said Evans.

The Amazon driver is amazed he survived the accident

Evans, who is from Milwaukee, couldn’t believe that he survived the accident. Terry Sater, of WISN, told Evans that he couldn’t believe that Evans survived the train accident. He said, “When all of us looked at that video of the aftermath and the photographs, we just couldn’t believe you survived.”

Evans agreed. “I still can’t believe it myself, as well.”

The accident happened on Evans’ 33rd birthday. He posted pictures of the accident on his personal Facebook page. Evans, who is still sore from the impact, says more needs to be done to make drivers aware of oncoming trains in that area. With no lights, signals, or other warning signs, something like this could happen again. There’s no guarantee that the next time, it won’t be fatal.