NEW WESTVILLE, Ohio — A Norfolk Southern freight train hit a car at a crossing, killing all three people in the vehicle, a wire service reported.
The car was struck Wednesday afternoon as it entered a crossing marked only by railroad crossbucks, the Preble County sheriff’s office said.
Sheriffs’ investigators on Thursday were still trying to identify the victims and determine the circumstances that led to the crash.
The Norfolk Southern Corp. train was carrying calcium chloride, an industrial chemical often used for de-icing, and other materials from Jacksonville, Fla., to Fort Wayne, Ind.
The victims were burned severely, said Julie Simpson of the Northwest Emergency Squad in New Paris. They were taken to the Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory in Dayton for identification through dental records, she said.
The train’s conductor was treated for chest pains and breathing problems, Simpson said. He and the train’s engineer declined to go to a hospital, she said.
New Westville is about 30 miles northwest of Dayton.