At 12:10 am, a Boston and Maine Railroad Buddliner traveling from Boston to Rockport struck a stalled tank truck carrying 7,000 US gallons (26,000 L) of oil at the railroad crossing on 2nd Street in Everett, Massachusetts.
Its doors jammed on impact and rescuers were forced to break windows to free passengers.
[2] The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) held joint hearings into the collision.
ICC examiner Robert Boyce believed that the Buddliner's doors were responsible for many of the deaths in the accident, stating "I believe more people would have escaped from the train had the door opened outward instead of inward".
[3] Following the hearings, the ICC's enforcement division recommended that: The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities blamed the crash on a mechanical defect in the truck's copper right-angle adapter, which became separated, causing the brakes to lose air pressure and triggering the automatic emergency brakes.