3 dead, 2 injured after Amtrak train collides with car in East Bay
Three people were killed and two were seriously injured Sunday after an Amtrak train collided with their car in the rural East Bay community of Brentwood, authorities said.
A westbound Amtrak train crashed into the car as it crossed the tracks near the 3000 block of Orwood Road at 1:15 p.m. in Contra Costa County, according to officials. Three people died at the scene after the car was thrown from the train track, said Steve Aubert, a fire marshal with the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District.
The three people were identified as 51-year-old Mercedes Regalado of Antioch, and 41-year-old Julia Mondragon and 72-year-old Maria Nieves of Dixon, according to the Contra Costa County coroner’s division.
Temperatures on the track exceeded 140 degrees — about 35 degrees above the rail’s ordinary operating temperature — a BART spokesman said.
Three people in the vehicle survived the crash, with two suffering major injuries, and they were airlifted to hospitals. One person was airlifted to John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, and the other, a child, was taken to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, Aubert said.
The Amtrak train, with 85 people onboard, was traveling from Stockton to Martinez when the collision occurred. There were no reported injuries among the train passengers and crew, Aubert said.
The railroad crossing where the collision occurred does not have crossing arms or signals, Aubert said, and trains are allowed to travel up to 80 mph through the rural community.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office referred all questions to BNSF Railway. A spokesperson with the railway said the cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Police have arrested the suspected gunman in a shooting on a San Francisco Muni train that left one person dead and another injured earlier this week.
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