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Metra Engineer Recovering After Truck Collision

The engineer of the Metra train that collided with a dump truck on Friday was released from the hospital

By Jennifer Schwarz

| Tuesday, May 17, 2011 | Updated 8:33 AM CDT

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NBCChicago.com

The No. 636 Union Pacific Northwest Line train collided with a dump truck carrying concrete.

Photos and Videos

Metra Train Strikes Dump Truck

A train was derailed Friday morning after it struck a dump truck along its route.

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Metra Train
Strikes Dump Truck

Passengers Thought a Bomb Had Exploded

Commuters on a Metra train that collided with a cement-carrying truck on Friday morning feared the worst when they felt the impact and saw flames outside their windows.

WATCH

Passengers Thought
a Bomb Had Exploded

More Photos and Videos

The engineer of the Metra train that collided with a truck Friday in Mount Prospect is recovering at home Tuesday morning. Doctors at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge released him on Monday.

More than two dozen of the train’s passengers were injured in the crash, but the engineer is believed to have sustained the most serious injuries. He was taken from the scene in critical condition.

The No. 636 Union Pacific Northwest Line train on Friday collided with the truck after the driver, Kazimierz Karasek, 59, from Prospect Heights drove the truck around railroad guards shortly after 8:30 a.m. Friday.

Karasek was killed in the accident. He'd previously been cited for driving under the influence, disregarding a traffic control signal and driving the wrong way on a one-way street, records revealed. He received court supervision for his 2008 DUI.

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