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Amtrak Train Strikes Van in Colorado, Kills Five People

The Southwest Chief train, which travels between Chicago and Los Angeles, resumed its route at 5 p.m.

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Investigators believe the van failed to yield right of way to the train, which led to the crash.

The lone survivor, a 4-year-old girl, was taken to Children’s Hospital in Denver with serious injuries.

“We were at church and when they didn’t show up for church, we were anxious about what was going on”, Schlabach said Monday morning.

“And you know like I said, we were reasonably sure because they weren’t answering their phones and- it was the right- it hit the vehicle description”, the victim’s cousin Keith Schlabach told KRDO.

Little Heidi was travelling in the family minivan with her parents and three sisters when their vehicle was hit by an Amtrak train on Sunday. “We thought they were broken down or something”.

Stephen Miller, 32, was behind the wheel of the family’s 2005 Chrysler Town & Country minivan with his wife, 33-year-old Christine Miller, in the passenger seat. Their daughters, ages 6, 2 and 8 months, also died.

The family’s minivan was broadsided, killing everyone inside except 4-year-old Heidi Miller. Police do not suspect that any alcohol or drug use played a role in the crash. The Amtrak train pushed the van down the tracks until it was able to come to a complete stop.

The family is now raising funds to pay for the five funerals, plus medical costs on GoFundMe.

The crossing does not have gates or warning lights and is marked by just four crossbuck signs, according to authorities.

The passengers and crew members aboard the train were not injured.

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A spokeswoman for Amtrak said more than 280 passengers were on board the train at the time of the crash.

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