Strangers in bar rush to help man stuck on train tracks with seconds to spare, Missouri cops say

Some guests in a Missouri bar and grill are credited with rescuing a 75-year-old man from a train wreck after his car got stuck on the tracks, KMOV reported.

About 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the man confused train tracks for a road, Maplewood Police said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“Instead of going across the tracks, he made a right turn onto the tracks and got stuck,” Sgt. David Sinnard said, according to the newspaper.

The man was not identified.

While the man was in his car, a train was approaching on those train tracks in Maplewood, KTRS reported.

That’s when Foley’s Bar and Grill customers saw the looming train and rushed to the car, the Post-Dispatch reported.

“We ran over there (and) attempted to get the gentleman out of the car,” Richard Sykora said, according to KSDK. “ ... he was confused, he was shaken up… he didn’t really want to get out of his car.”

With just a moment to spare, Sykora and other Good Samaritans helped the man unlock his door by reaching through a cracked window, KSDK reported.

“We were able to pull him from the car,” Sykora said, according to KMOV. “About 45 seconds later, the train rounded the corner there.”

Then, “someone yelled train coming,” Sykora told KSDK, and they all moved farther away from the tracks.

The train struck the man’s car, FOX2 reported.

A video recorded by witness Gina Imo and posted to Twitter by KMOV shows the train smash into the car and push it forward. The train pushed the car for about a quarter mile, Sinnard said, according to the Post-Dispatch.

Nobody was injured in the crash, FOX2 reported.

This story was originally published January 7, 2019 at 10:18 AM.