A man is dead after a train collided with his refrigeration truck just east of Springfield. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says thirty-year-old Michael J. Biggs, an employee of a heating and air conditioning company, died shortly before 2 p.m. A westbound train collided with the van near Farm Roads 199 and 193 on Riverwalk Lane, just south of Route D near Logan-Rogersville.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Biggs was driving a van southbound across the tracks onto a private drive. He was the only person in the van. Witnesses say they didn't hear a crash but rather an explosion. A landscaper working nearby who watched the train heard two more explosions as the train pushed the van down the tracks.

Robert Watkins says he immediately called 911. Watkins says as he got closer to the van he says it became clear Biggs did not survive. He says he could only see mangled metal and tossed debris from the refrigeration van. "I saw a big fire ball and watched it move down the tracks at that point I had 911 on the phone,” Watkins says. “I hopped over the tracks to find the conductor."

Watkins says he spoke to the Burlington Northern Sante Fe train conductor right after the crash. He says the conductor saw the van pull out but could not stop the train in time. The highway patrol says there are no tire skid marks, indicating the van did not brake before driving across the tracks. The patrol will try to determine why the man pulled out. The witness and conductor say the driver saw the train. At this

Burlington Northern Sante Fe General Public Affairs Director Steve Forsberg says the train was traveling 39 miles an hour. Forsberg says the train was traveling below the maximum allowable speed. The train was an empty coal train headed to Springfield to switch out crews. The train would then continue on to a coal mine in Wyoming.

Forsberg says the intersection at Riverwalk Lane is a private crossing. He says the crossing exists for the private property owner on the other side of the track. Forsberg says the determination of what safety measures to use on public crossing gates and lights are made by state and federal government. Any safety measures on a private crossing are determined by the owner. Forsberg says private crossings typically are equipped with stop signs because the owners are usually the only people that use them. The intersection did have a stop sign and no trespassing signs.

Click on our video report to hear more from witnesses on the scene.