Man, 82, dies; his pickup truck hits train near New Orleans

SLIDELL, La. – Authorities say an 82-year-old man died after apparently driving around railroad crossing arms and into the path of an Amtrak passenger train in a New Orleans suburb.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office says the man’s small pickup truck was pushed into a nearby marsh Wednesday evening, and the driver was thrown from the vehicle.

Coroner’s spokesman James Hartman said Albert F. Moliere Jr. of Slidell was pronounced dead on the scene.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Meredith Timberlake said Moliere was the only person in the truck, and nobody on the Amtrak Crescent train was hurt. Fifty-one passengers were on the train Wednesday evening as it left Slidell for New Orleans, to the southwest.

The Crescent runs daily between New York and New Orleans.