An 11-year-old girl was killed and her mother was left critically injured after being struck by a train in Redlands on Tuesday night.
The fatal collision happened on the railroad tracks at Alabama Street, just north of Redlands Boulevard shortly before 8:30 p.m., according to the Redlands Police Department.
The Metrolink train was traveling at about 50 mph when the engineer spotted the victims’ vehicle on the train tracks, police said. The engineer applied the brakes but was unable to stop in time before crashing head-on into the victims’ car.
The child was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. The mother, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, was taken to the hospital with critical injuries.
Images from the scene show the victims’ car completely mangled and destroyed at the busy intersection. Debris from the crash was strewn across the tracks and nearby roadway.
The victims were headed northbound when they ended up on the tracks for some unknown reason, police said. Moments later, a Metrolink train traveling westbound struck the vehicle.
There were four people aboard the train at the time — two passengers, an engineer and the conductor, said Metrolink. One passenger was taken to the hospital with a “complaint of pain,” officials said.
Locals say the intersection where the crash took place is a dangerous one.
“It’s very busy and there are often people who don’t stop when they’re supposed to at the intersection,” said Nicolas, who commutes to Redlands for work. “They stop in the middle of the intersection because there’s just so many cars lined up, so I can see an accident happening pretty easily.”
“We just heard a loud bang,” said Saalim Scott, a man who worked nearby and heard the crash. “I thought it was something falling off the truck. We all came out and we saw the car and somebody off to the side. It’s just pretty sad, honestly, because life is short. You want to hold your family a little closer.”
“I got in my car and I came right here and that’s when I realized the car was hit by the train,” said resident Victor Medford. “It hurts. It hurts bad. Last night when I saw it, I cried.”
Police are still investigating how the vehicle ended up on the tracks in the first place.
“The initial investigation indicated that all safety gates and signals were working properly and there were no signs of drugs or alcohol in the driver’s system,” police said.
The crash happened in a quiet zone where train horns do not sound off at crossings unless it’s an emergency situation. It’s unclear whether the Metrolink train’s horn went off before the deadly collision.
The mother remains hospitalized in critical condition. No identities have been released by authorities.
Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or the moments leading up to it is asked to contact Cpl. Martin Gonzalez at mgonzalez@redlandspolice.org or Redlands Police Dispatch at 909-798-7681, ext. 1.