Colorado – Authorities are investigating after an Amtrak train collided with a van killing five people, including three children, in Colorado on Sunday morning.
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The Colorado State Patrol released a statement saying a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country failed to yield right of way to the train and was struck at 9:45 a.m. just outside Trinidad. The van’s driver and three of the six passengers died at the scene. A fifth passenger was taken to a hospital and declared dead.
The TV station Denver7 reports that a Colorado State Trooper says a girl in the van was flown to Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, with serious injuries.
Authorities will release the names of the van’s occupants once relatives are notified.
An Amtrak spokeswoman tells the station that more than 280 passengers were on board at the time of the crash. No one on the train was injured.
The Denver Post reports that the spokeswoman says the Southwest Chief train, which travels between Chicago and Los Angeles, resumed its route at 5 p.m.
Authorities are investigating but neither alcohol nor drug use is suspected.
I’ve never understood the mentality of drivers of all ages and backgrounds, who somehow think that they can outrace a train, at a railroad crossing. In nearly all cases, they don’t make it, and wind up killing themselves, as well as innocent passengers. These types of accidents happen even when there are flashing lights, and closing gates, which warn motorists to stop. Also, motorists have attempted to bypass a closing gate, with fatal consequences. Isn’t it better to be inconvenienced and wait a few minutes for a train to pass, than to lose one’s life, trying to outrace a train? Even when I cross railroad tracks when the gate is up, and there are no flashing lights, I always slow down, and look both ways. One time, when I did that, an idiotic motorist in back of me was loudly honking his horn, as he wanted me to go faster, and not slow down. I ignored him, as his mentality is identical to the motorists described above, who will attempt to outrace a train, and wind up getting killed!