IXONIA, Wisc. — Officials say an Amazon driver is lucky to be alive after the driver collided with an Amtrak train at a railroad crossing Wednesday.

The delivery van driver was taken to a local hospital for precautionary measures but is expected to be OK.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said a preliminary investigation showed that the Amazon vehicle was heading northbound on River Valley Road around 1:30 p.m. local time when it attempted to cross the tracks.

That's when the train, heading eastbound, struck the vehicle.

"The fact that he came out alive from that was really amazing, I was so happy that he was OK," Ben Bellack said.

For Bellack, it was a typical Wednesday afternoon working from home until he heard what he thought was a gunshot ring out just a few feet outside his window.

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"I looked out the window, and I saw that there was half of an Amazon van in the middle of the road," Bellack said.

The other half was wrapped around the front of a nearby train that had come to an emergency stop.

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"I grabbed my keys, got in the car, drove down there as quick as I could, expecting — who knows what I was going to see," Bellack said. "I look around, and the guy was in the front seat, and I was like, 'Are you OK?' And he was like, 'Yeah.'"

Amtrak says all 129 passengers and 12 crew members aboard the train are OK.

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Pam Avery and her daughter, Tara Truax-Newhousewere, were on their first train ride ever, on their way to Milwaukee to visit family.

"We were going along really well, and all of a sudden we felt a bump and then another little bump, and then we heard the brakes go on," Avery said.

"When stuff was happening, they let us know, so we didn't feel like we were in the dark," Truax-Newhouse said.

After a delay of about four hours, the train was back on its way.

Amtrak said the train is a part of their Empire Builder service. It departed Seattle and Portland on Monday.

This story was originally published by Taylor Lumpkin on Scripps station TMJ4 in Milwaukee.

JOPLIN, Mont. — Three people have died and numerous injuries have been reported after an Amtrak train derailed along Montana's Hi-Line in Liberty County on Saturday.

Several dead, numerous injuries reported in Amtrak train derailment along Hi-Line

It happened about three miles west of the town of Joplin.

CBS News and The Associated Press report that there are at least three confirmed fatalities, according to the Liberty County Sheriff's Office.

The train consisted of two locomotives and 10 cars, with seven of the cars derailing. There is no word yet on what caused the derailment

Amtrak confirmed the derailment near Joplin and released the following statement:

Pictures shared on social media show at least one car completely on its side and several other cars upright or tipped but off the tracks.

A witness described helping passengers exit the derailed cars. Jeremiah Johnson told KRTV that ladders were being used to free people and some had to be cut free.

"We had to lift a few people out with lots of volunteers and then cut some out. There was one lady in the back whose legs were trapped and was unable to be removed without using a saw (to cut away seats)," Johnson said.

Johnson described seeing shoulder, head, and neck injuries. He added that his wife assisted with helping passengers as they got off the train.

"Right now, she's helping out on-site and then was kind of checking people's vitals as they were coming. I brought her to the hospital. They had plenty of help up there so we went to the high school and she started helping get down people's injuries, names, and documenting any medication they may be taking."

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Johnson estimated there were dozens of people at the high school.

Amtrak also included the following information in its news release:

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending 14 investigators to the site, according to CBS News.

The Amtrak passenger line that runs along the Montana Hi-Line is known as the Empire Builder. It runs between Chicago and Seattle/Portland.

This story was originally published by staff at KRTV.