Witnesses react to train accident

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Witnesses said they were swimming below the train tracks in Otter Creek when they heard the train coming and saw Mark Priehs and his son walking across the tracks.

The man and his three-year-old son were struck by the train and knocked from the trestle bridge. Priehs is listed in critical condition.

Brailey Cleeton, 12, and Stacey Pressley, 14, said they were screaming at him to move or jump.

"The guy, he picked up the baby and when he did he just stood there with the baby," Pressley said.

Vigo County Sheriff's Department said there was no where for the man to go. The train trestle has no walkway on the west side, but rather a large drop off, leaving Priehs and his son stuck on the edge.

"We're speculating now that he could have gotten close enough to the edge the train could have passed by him, but unfortunately there's just no room," Officer Greg Ewing.

The impact of the train threw Priehs and his son into the water. That's when Pressley and Cleeton ran over to help.

"I was helping the baby, I was trying to do as much as I can for them, I was just trying to do my best," Cleeton said.

The girls said they have been crossing those tracks to go swimming for the last two years, but after seeing what can happen they said they will never go back there again.