In Brentwood, California, an Amtrak train struck a car at a crossing without guardrails or signage, leaving three people dead and four others, including one kid, injured.
Around 1pm, according to authorities, the Amtrak train struck the automobile as it was pulling into a long rural dirt lane near the intersection of Orwood Road and Bixler Road.
After then, the automobile veered off the road and collided with another car.
The Mercury News reports that three ladies, all older than 50, were declared deceased at the site.
In addition, a toddler, two men, and one other individual all required hospitalization due to significant injuries.
There were ‘roughly’ five persons hurt in all, a BNSF Railway spokesman informed the New York Times, while the exact number is yet unknown.
According to ABC News, individuals who were seriously harmed following the incident on Sunday afternoon were taken to the John Muir Medical Center. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the child was transported by land while one of the parents was transported by air.
In addition, Battalion Chief Craig Auzenne of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District informed reporters at the site that none of the 81 passengers or five crew members on the train were hurt. The victims were all inside the four-door vehicle when it was struck, according to authorities.
In reality, he claimed, the SUV and car were colliding when the train stopped a quarter of a mile away.
The collision is still under investigation.
But East Contra Costa Fire Department officials say they’d already been called out to that train crossing twice last year because it does not have a traffic guard.
‘It’s a bad crossing,’ Steve Aubert, a fire marshal said, noting that trains travel at about 80mph on the tracks.
‘It’s just a recipe for disaster unfortunately.’
According to authorities, the individuals in the car were on route to a local event when the collision happened barely 300 feet from an outdoor fundraiser for a Brentwood resident who passed away less than a week ago, Mercury News reported.
Firefighters had already been summoned to the fundraising location to assist a fainting person, and they were on their way there when the Amtrak train plowed into the car.
They only seen the wreckage of the deadly crash when they arrived.
And Fatima Jimenez, who was present at the fundraiser, claimed she sprinted out because she believed her brother’s car had been struck.
She arrived at the train tracks to find two women dead on the ground, along with a bloodied child, she told Mercury News.
She also said she helped someone else pull a man from the wreckage of the car, and noted that he appeared to have avoided a major injury.
‘People fainted when they heard what was going on,’ Jimenez recounted. ‘ It was chaotic. There are no words to describe it – I’m still in shock.’
Owner of Bloomfield Vineyards, where the event was held on Sunday, Mitch Bloomfield said he had repeatedly requested BNSF Railway to put up a marked railroad crossing at the intersection.
He ultimately decided to put his own “TRAINS!” signs on both sides of the tracks. However, he claimed that individuals continue to pass without stopping.
‘I’ve called BNSF countless times to have them out in a crossing there,’ Bloomfield told the Mercury News, adding: ‘They make a lot of money, but they don’t like to spend it.
‘Hopefully now this is more of an important thing.’