18-Year-Old Dies In Truck-Train Crash Near Austin

AUSTIN, Minn. (AP) — A high school senior who was off from school on a snow day has died in a truck-train crash near Austin in southern Minnesota.

He was identified Wednesday as 18-year-old Joe Lewison, of Rose Creek. He died when the pickup he was driving crashed into a train on Mower County Road 4 near U.S. Highway 218, four miles south of Austin, around 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.

Lewison was a senior at Pacelli High School in Austin, which was closed Tuesday due to the wintry weather across southern Minnesota. He was the only person in the truck.

Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi says icy road conditions played a role in the collision.

Although the railroad crossing has stop signs and railroad crossing signs, it does not have gates or lights.

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