The driver of a tractor-trailer died in a collision with a train Thursday morning in Cheswick, according to Allegheny County Police.

The crash happened at Pittsburgh and Blockdale streets about 5:20 a.m., according to Allegheny County 911.

The collision appeared to push the trailer into a corner of a building. The smashed cab appeared to have been spun into the back of it.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the driver as David Nezekiah Howell, 55, of Easton. He was dead at the scene.

Paul Oden lives in the building and said he had been sleeping.

“It shook the whole building. It knocked me off the couch,” said Oden, 62.

Allegheny County Police said detectives learned the truck was trying to make a sharp turn onto the crossing.

The truck driver “was in the process of crossing the rails when it appeared that he noticed a train approaching and began backing to no avail,” police said in a news release.

The train crew was not hurt, according to Norfolk Southern spokeswoman Rachel McDonnell Bradshaw.

The eastbound coal train was heading to Huff when the incident happened, Bradshaw said.

“At Norfolk Southern, the safety of our employees and the communities we serve is our No. 1 priority,” she said. “Norfolk Southern advises motorists and pedestrians to stay alert around railroad tracks and to be mindful of all warning signs and signals at railroad crossings.”

Oden said there are no warning lights or gates at the road crossing.

“The crossing, it should have lights there,” he said.

Oden said he hears the train whistles every night and usually thinks nothing of them. He said the impact was like thunder.

Vehicles have been hit at the crossing before.

Recent incidents have included a train hitting the rear of a tractor-trailer in May 2019, sending it into the building.

Two people were hurt in May when a train clipped a van there.

“How many more is it going to take before they do something?” Oden said. “I’ve only been living here a little less than two months. I’m about ready to get out of here.”

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