Lakota Teens Airlifted to Rochester After Car-Train Crash on 190th Avenue

LAKOTA, Iowa — A 16-year-old driver and his 12-year-old passenger were airlifted to a hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, after their car collided with a Union Pacific train Tuesday afternoon on a rural gravel road in northeastern Kossuth County, according to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office.

The Kossuth County Law Enforcement Center received a 911 call at 3:53 p.m. Tuesday reporting the crash about a quarter-mile south of Highway 9 on 190th Avenue, at Union Pacific Railroad crossing number 608574V, the sheriff’s office said. Law enforcement, EMS, fire and emergency management agencies responded to the scene.

The 16-year-old was driving a 2004 Chevrolet Impala south on 190th Avenue with the 12-year-old as a passenger when the car struck an eastbound Union Pacific train at the crossing, according to the sheriff’s office. Both boys are from the Lakota/Buffalo Center area. The car came to a stop a short distance east of the crossing, and the train initiated an emergency stop.

Alex Horak of Lakota was driving on Highway 9 and saw the collision, immediately calling 911, the sheriff’s office said. Within a minute of witnessing the crash, Horak saw the Impala catch fire with both occupants still inside and pulled them out to safety, according to the release. The vehicle became fully engulfed in flames just a few feet from railcars loaded with ethanol.

Firefighters from Swea City, Ledyard and Lakota, operating as Highway 9 Fire, extinguished the blaze, the sheriff’s office said. Kossuth County EMS and Lakota EMS arrived and initiated an auto-launch for helicopter transport. Air Care out of Waterloo flew the 16-year-old driver to Rochester. Lakota EMS transported the 12-year-old to the KRHC launch pad in Algona, where Air Med 2 out of Des Moines flew him to Rochester.

Both boys suffered head and upper body injuries and were being treated at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, according to the sheriff’s office.

The Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by Kossuth County Emergency Management, Kossuth County EMS, Lakota EMS, Union Pacific employees, the Swea City, Ledyard and Lakota Fire Departments, and Air-Med units out of Waterloo and Des Moines.

The crash remains under investigation, the sheriff’s office said.