Officials said the cross gate was down and the lights were flashing.
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The van ran through a crossing gate and into a train Tuesday night in Middletown, Ohio, police said. “Obviously, she had a van full of passengers so there’s a number of factors to look into why the driver may have drove through the gate like this”.
Police told WLWT News 5’s Jenell Walton the people in the van were being transported from Vacation Bible School.
The driver of vehicle was also taken to Atrium, along with seven of the children.
OSHP’s Lt. Clint Arnold says Tuesday, the CSX conductor followed that protocol and confirmed the signals were functioning.
The injured were taken to the Liberty campus of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and to Atrium Medical Center.
The female driver is said to have serious injuries, her passenger sustained life-threatening injuries and the eight children on board vary in the degree of injuries but are believed to be mostly minor.
All are expected to recover.
Troopers tell me they have no idea why the driver of the van, didn’t stop. “He said majority appeared to be under 10 years of age and all of them were I guess loud, so that’s a good thing”, Arnold said.
Troopers say the van was travelling 2 miles per hour along 14th Avenue near University Boulevard just before 7:00 p.m. when it crashed through the crossing bars and flashing lights at the tracks and into the side of the train. Investigators said they suspect the driver was distracted. “It wasn’t like she was trying to go through. It wasn’t like the gate was collapsing”, he said.
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The crash remains under investigation.
