UPDATE: Smyrna government identifies victim in Monday train fatality

Scott Broden, Murfreesboro Daily News Journal
Updated ·2 min read

A driver died after a train struck the motorist's car at a railroad crossing Monday morning by Smyrna's historic Depot District, a town spokeswoman said.

The victim is 51-year-old Berhane N. Woldetensae, a resident of the Antioch community on the southeast side of Nashville, Smyrna town spokeswoman Heather Kent reported after law enforcement notified his family.

"He was from Avon, Indiana," Kent said.

The Smyrna Police Department and and Smyrna Fire Department have been investigating the fatality in conjunction with CSX railroad officials, Kent said.

The town closed the Washington Street crossing of the railroad tracks after the crash but reopened the street by Tuesday afternoon before schools let out, Kent said.

Emergency crews work a fatal accident involving a vehicle that was hit by a train at a railroad crossing near the Smyrna depot on Washington Street in downtown Smyrna Tenn. on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.
Emergency crews work a fatal accident involving a vehicle that was hit by a train at a railroad crossing near the Smyrna depot on Washington Street in downtown Smyrna Tenn. on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.

Smyrna's historic Depot District is accessible from Washington Street off Lowry Street, which is part of U.S. Highway 41. The highway runs parallel to the CSX railroad traveling southeast to Murfreesboro and northwest to La Vergne.

Observers of the Monday 10:45 a.m. crash included Bell Wayman, a bartender at Pop's Bar & Grill.

"It was just a loud boom," Wayman said. "The whole front end of that car was gone."

Wayman recalled spotting the Indiana license plate on the Toyota Highlander that was dragged to a fence separating the tracks from the Depot District.

The bartender and other witnesses said many drivers are known to idle their cars on the railroad tracks while waiting to cross through a traffic signal intersection with Lowry Street or the busy roundabout in the Depot District.

A train is stopped on the track near the railroad crossing at Enon Springs Road after hitting a vehicle at the railroad crossing on Washington Street near the Smyrna depot in downtown Smyrna Tenn. on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.
A train is stopped on the track near the railroad crossing at Enon Springs Road after hitting a vehicle at the railroad crossing on Washington Street near the Smyrna depot in downtown Smyrna Tenn. on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.

"That intersection is very dangerous," Wayman said.

The train was going at a fast speed, Wayman said.

"You could hear the train lock up," Wayman said. "It was too late. There was no quick reaction time at all. One bad judgment can end a life."

The bartender said car parts from the crash flew to the other side of the roundabout.

The Smyrna government closed the Washington Street crossing of the CSX railroad line Monday (Nov. 13, 2023) after a driver died after being hit by a train.
The Smyrna government closed the Washington Street crossing of the CSX railroad line Monday (Nov. 13, 2023) after a driver died after being hit by a train.

Note: The Daily News Journal will update this story as more information is available.

Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. Follow his tweets on the X social media platform @ScottBroden. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: UPDATE: Smyrna government identifies victim in Monday train fatality