HAMMONTON - A car that had pulled around railroad gates at the Bellevue Avenue crossing was struck Tuesday by a westbound NJ Transit train, injuring the driver and his dog, town police said.
The accident happened just before 1 p.m. Anthony Daversa, of Glenolden, Pa., was pulled from his vehicle and flown by helicopter to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus, in Atlantic City, where he was listed in fair condition three hours after the accident. Hammonton Police Chief Frank Ingemi said Daversa was thought to have facial and internal injuries.
Train 4614 left Atlantic City at 12:21 p.m. and was scheduled to stop at 12:50 p.m. in Hammonton, a few blocks before Bellevue Avenue. The gates, lights and bells at the crossing were working normally at the time of the accident, NJ Transit spokesman Joe Dee said.
Ingemi said it appeared the vehicle was headed west on South Egg Harbor Road and that Daversa made a left turn around the gate to cross the tracks. Daversa's vehicle was not identified.
The driver's small dog was seriously injured. A Hammonton police officer took it for treatment at Shore Veterinarian in town.
The undamaged train resumed its trip at 2:10 p.m., Dee said, and none of the 73 passengers in its four coaches was injured.
The train accident was at least the second of the day in New Jersey. At about 9 a.m., a train on the Raritan Valley line in Union County struck and killed an unidentified person whom NJ Transit described as trespassing on the tracks. That train was delayed for 90 minutes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
E-mail Eric Scott Campbell: ECampbell@pressofac.com
