Bourbonnais: Bereaved seek damages

Lawsuits were filed in Chicago on 17 August 1999 in respect of 10 people who died when Amtrak's City of New Orleans crashed into a truck at a rail crossing in Illinois in March.

The accident occurred on 15 March 1999 at a rail crossing at Bourbonnais. The train collided with a truck laden with steel rods which was on the crossing. Some of the witnesses at the scene said that the truck moved onto the crossing against the red warning lights.

Eleven people died in the accident.

The actions allege negligence by the truck driver, John Stokes; his employer, Melco Transfer Inc., of Peotone, Ill.; and the Illinois Central Railroad Company.

Web sources:

• Train crash victims' relatives file suit
  Seattle PI.com 19 Aug 99