Man, 34, dies after train collides with pickup truck in Athol

A 34-year-old man died early Friday when his pickup truck was struck by an Amtrak train in Athol.

The Idaho State Police said the man’s Ford F-250 stopped in a railroad crossing while traveling west on state Highway 54.

The crash was reported about 12:30 a.m. The man was alone in the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.

No one aboard the train was injured. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the locomotive was damaged but reached its destination in Spokane after a two-hour delay.

The railroad crossing arms and signals were damaged, so flaggers were manually directing traffic on Friday. The tracks are owned by the BNSF Railway Co.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the collision was an accident or a case of suicide. John Hunt, a deputy Kootenai County coroner, said the investigation was ongoing late Friday morning.