Train Crashes Into Lancaster Convenience Store; Building To Be Demolished

A trio of train cars derailed and the last one crashed into a convenience store along South Main Street in Lancaster on Wednesday afternoon. A portion of the street is closed now due to concerns that the building may collapse.

The Buy-Rite Discount Beverage Store is near an area where train cars are stored. The Herald in Rock Hill reports the train engineer didn’t heed an order to stop as he backed up on an offloading track, causing the three cars to derail and roll into the back of the store.

The impact threw one customer out the front door of the store; he was airlifted to the hospital with serious injuries.

Tony Presser was inside when the crash happened around 2 p.m.

“Like an earthquake -- it hit and the whole store started to crumble and crack and crawl,” he said. “I was going, ‘Let’s get out of here, we’re going to die, we’re going to die, we’re going to die.’”

Presser said he dragged another customer out the door while the building was still creaking.

He said this isn’t the first time a train has derailed in the area, but one has never gotten far enough to hit the store.

Crews removed the train, but the leaning building is still standing. Workers are testing the building for asbestos before demolishing it.

IMAGES: Train Hits Lancaster Convenience Store