CHICAGO — Witnesses report a vehicle drove around crossing gates before being struck by a Metra train Sunday evening in an accident that killed three people in the car — including a 5-year-old girl — and injured the train’s engineer, conductor and three passengers while derailing the cab car.
The Chicago Tribune reports the collision occurred at West 107th street and South Vincennes Avenue about 5 p.m., with the vehicle pushed by the train to 103rd Street — about two-fifths of a mile — before coming to a stop. The inbound train on Metra’s Rock Island District had left Joliet at 4:25 p.m.
All three victims were declared dead at the scene. The Tribune reports two have been identified: 38-year-old Joneisha Ransberry and 5-year-old Essence Ransberry.
An Associated Press report indicates eyewitness accounts say the car pulled out of a line of stop vehicles and drove around the crossing gates, where it was struck by a train traveling at about 75 mph. The speed limit at the location is 79 mph. Metra has confirmed the gates were working.
A Metra spokeswoman said 41 passengers were onboard. Of the three that were injured, two requested treatment at a hospital. The remaining passengers were transported to a nearby Chicago Transit Authority Red Line station to continue to Chicago. Trains were routed off the Rock Island main line to the parallel Beverly Branch while the accident investigation continued.
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