A dramatic collision at a railway crossing in Gdańsk Lipce has left four people injured after an InterCity train slammed into a truck trailer that became trapped between the barriers. The crash happened just after 1:20 p.m. Thursday at Niegowska Street, when PKP Intercity train 5704, known as Bachus, was traveling from Gdynia Główna toward Zielona Góra carrying somewhere between 250 and 300 passengers. Video footage captured from a nearby station platform shows the dramatic moment of impact, with a massive cloud of dust and debris erupting as the train pushed through the wreckage of the truck's trailer. Firefighters later confirmed that the locomotive itself never left the rails, though one track was destroyed in the collision.

What makes the crash especially unsettling is how avoidable it appears to have been, based on witness accounts and early investigation findings. According to Poland's national rail network manager, PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe, the 42-year-old truck driver ignored signals warning of the approaching train and ended up trapped on the crossing as the barriers came down around his vehicle. Bystanders reportedly shouted at him to break through the barrier and clear the tracks immediately, but instead of doing so, he first attempted to reverse the truck off the crossing. Only after that failed did he try to push forward through the barrier, but by then it was too late to avoid the oncoming train, and the collision happened moments later.

Despite the violence of the impact, caught vividly on video as the train dragged the wreckage forward, the outcome could have been far worse. Four people sustained injuries, all described as minor: the truck driver, the train driver, and two passengers. The truck driver, a 42-year-old citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, managed to climb out of the cab himself and remained conscious before being taken to the hospital; he was the only one of the four who required hospital treatment, with the others treated at the scene. Seven fire brigade units, including a technical rescue team, along with five ambulance crews, responded to the scene and worked to clear the aftermath and secure the area.

Initial reports and social media posts claimed the crossing barrier had been raised prematurely, allowing the truck to drive onto the tracks just as the train approached, but Polish investigators have not confirmed that version of events. Their working theory instead points to the opposite scenario: that the truck entered the crossing while the barriers were already in the process of closing, trapping the vehicle rather than the barriers failing to warn it in time. The Pruszcz Gdański to Gdańsk Południowy rail section was suspended for several hours following the crash, with services diverted onto alternative routes before full traffic was restored later that night. A special commission is now investigating the incident, while PKP PLK has used the moment to remind drivers that a vehicle trapped at a crossing must break through the barrier and clear the tracks immediately rather than attempting to reverse or wait.