Caught on video: Train slams into tractor-trailer in Haverstraw, N.Y.

A truck driver escaped danger thanks to some quick thinking.

His tractor trailer got stuck on railroad tracks in Rockland County while he was inside, but a police sergeant was able to rescue him before a freight train slammed into his vehicle.

The tractor trailer was demolished. 

Police say it was a close call for the driver.

Cellphone video shows the moment the freight train slammed into the tractor trailer that was stuck on railroad tracks in Rockland County.

"It was terrible," said witness Hector Rivera. 

The driver got out with seconds to spare after someone hailed a cop for help.

"The operator was still inside on his phone, trying to make arrangements, I guess, to get himself off, did not realize that a train was actually coming northbound. Our sergeant actually alerted him and got him out of the vehicle in time," said Capt. John Gould of Haverstraw Police. 

It happened around 9:30 a.m. Thursday. 

"A tractor trailer was coming up New Main Street towards 9W. It kind of bottomed out on the railroad tracks and was stuck," Gould said. "Whatever the load he had on was quite heavy. Just the contour of the road, the bed of tractor trailer got stuck, kind of scraped, which made him stop."

Low ground clearance signs are posted all around the tracks. 

"Gotta be careful. Railroad crossings are dangerous," Rivera said. 

The driver of the freight train was also unharmed.  

In a statement to CBS, CSX said the company is working with police on its investigation.

In the meantime, as the cleanup continues, residents in the Rockland county community are happy no one was hurt.

"Driver was shaken up, but physically appeared OK. He was evaluated by the paramedics, as well as the train conductor," Gould said. "Thank God the only thing that was damaged was some property which can be replaced."

Police say thankfully nothing hazardous was on the train, or this would have been a much different scene. 

The investigation is ongoing.

CSX has issued a brief statement on the collision: 

At approximately 9:20 a.m. this morning, a CSX train struck an unoccupied vehicle on the railroad tracks at New Main Street in Haverstraw, NY. No injuries were reported. CSX personnel are cooperating with the Haverstraw Police, who are investigating this incident.

The driver of the tractor trailer got out minutes before a freight train crashed into it Thursday morning. 

Someone in the neighborhood alerted a police sergeant to the truck when it got stuck on the tracks at around 9:30 a.m. The sergeant then told the driver a train was coming. 

We're told the truck was delivering titanium piping to a nearby plant. 

"The load he had on was quite heavy, and just the contour of the road, the bed of the tractor trailer got stuck. It kind of scraped, which made him stop, and he was in the process of trying to figure out his way to get himself off. But unfortunately for him the train was coming at that time," said Haverstraw Police Capt. John Gould. 

Cleanup will take several hours, but there were no injuries. 

An investigation into the crash is ongoing. 

Police say the tractor trailer got stuck on the freight tracks around 9:30 a.m.

The truck was delivering supplies to the nearby Bow Line power plant, but somehow bottomed out and became stuck.

Police were called, and they told the driver a CSX train was approaching.

The driver was able to walk a safe distance away before it arrived.

Less than five minutes later, the train came barreling through and slammed into the truck.

Video posted to social media shows the shocking moment of impact when a CSX train collided with a tractor-trailer in Haverstraw, N.Y. Thursday morning. 

The video shows the tractor trailer stopped across the tracks when a CSX freight train slams into it. 

The decimated trailer spilled its payload near the tracks after it was hit. 

It happened at Railroad Square in Haverstraw, along Route 9W at New Main Street.

There was no immediate reports of injuries.