LONGVIEW — A man and woman died when a northbound Amtrak passenger train smashed into their vehicle in the Horseshoe Bend area north of Kelso at 9:30 Friday morning, according to BNSF Railway and the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.
All freight and passenger traffic will be shut down through the area until the early afternoon while the wreckage is cleared and tracks and the train are inspected, BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said. At least one other Amtrak train was able to pass through the area at about 1:30 p.m.
The collision occurred on a private road crossing leading to the Horseshoe Estates community about 7.5 miles north of Kelso, Melonas said. There are no crossing arms at that location, but there are warning devices on both sides of the tracks.
The driver of the vehicle stopped momentarily as the Amtrak train approached but then tried to race across the tracks before the train arrived. Instead, it was struck, according to Charlie Rosenzweig, Cowlitz County chief criminal deputy. The two deceased are not local residents, but the woman has ties to the area, Rosenzweig said.
Melonas said the deaths are the fifth and sixth statewide on BNSF tracks this year involving a train/vehicle collision, Melonas said. In addition, there have been 20 fatalities involving people who were trespassing on BNSF tracks, Melonas said. An average of 60 trains a day move through the BNSF tracks in Cowlitz County, according to BNSF.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
