Update (09/27/18 2:36 p.m.) – The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office has identified the woman killed in a collision with a train as 35-year-old Ashley Jennifer Hinson from Van Nuys, California.
Original story: DORRIS, Calif. – A woman is dead following a collision with a passenger train near Dorris Tuesday morning.
The crash happened at about 8:30 AM at the junction of the rail line and Highway 97 near the north end of Dorris.
Police say a southbound driver smashed into a northbound Amtrak engine.
Witnesses say the woman had been driving recklessly before she drove through the lowered railroad crossing arms.
Curtis Hogan of Dorris spoke with witnesses to the crash. He said, “She came across here, and was passing everybody, was riding people – right on the bumper of people, then she came across here at a high rate of speed – she hit the train.”
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed those reports.
The Hyundai sedan caught fire when it hit the train.
The woman was the only person in the car and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Emergency crews say a dog was also found dead in the car.
None of the more than 200 passengers on the Pacific Coast Starlight were injured in the crash.
The incident has shaken the community of over 900.
“Death is so fast,” reflected Hogan. “It’s so fast – it’s just really hard to comprehend. It’s a terrible tragedy. I think everybody’s shook up just a little bit.”
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