Print |
E-mail to a friend
NEWS
One funeral set in fatal train wreck
HUNTINGTON — Investigators were still at a loss Wednesday to explain why a minivan carrying two women and two teenage girls crashed into a passing train in Wayne County.
The collision killed sisters Samantha Fields, 38, and Alberta Lewis, 41. Both are from Wayne County.
Fields’ 16-year-old daughter, Abbie, was one of two teenagers injured. She remained in critical condition Wednesday.
Kayla Frye, 17, was upgraded to fair condition. The conditions were provided by Cabell Huntington Hospital spokesman Charles Shumaker.
The collision occurred about 5 a.m. Tuesday at a railroad intersection on W.Va. 152 at Ardel Road, just north of Wayne. Investigators said the van crashed into the 74th car of the 100-car train.
A witness told investigators warning lights at the crossing were operating at the time.
Family members finalized Lewis’ funeral arrangements Wednesday. Visitation is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Friday at Morris Funeral Home in Wayne. Funeral services will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday. She will be laid to rest at the Greasy Ridge Cemetery in Dunlow.
Lewis lived in Genoa and worked as an in-home health technician for the Wayne County Community Services Organization.
In-home health coordinator Chrystal Adkins remembered Lewis as a good worker who rarely missed work and filled in when needed.
“Clients liked her really well,” she said. “She was one of the workers that you really wanted to keep.”
Lewis was scheduled to work at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Adkins did not know why Lewis would have been traveling south at 5 a.m.
That remains an unanswered question for investigators. Wayne County Sheriff Pennington said shopping bags indicate the women may have been shopping at a local Wal-Mart.
The investigators hope interviews with the injured teenagers will help them understand what led to the accident. Pennington said the teenagers’ medical conditions had prevented those conversations from taking place as of Wednesday afternoon.
Pennington said investigators planned to analyze brakes on the victims’ van, along with pending toxicology reports.
The train is owned by Norfolk Southern. Its engines were transporting empty coal cars from Kenova to East Lynn.
On Tuesday, Pennington said the crash was unexplainable. He said deputies do not believe the train was at fault.
"Why this vehicle hit this train with the lights flashing and traveling across the intersection? We don't understand it," he said.
The teenagers are from East Lynn, and Wayne High School Principal Sara Stapleton described both as former students.
The crash did not derail the train, and its engineers did not notice the impact. They continued toward their destination, Pennington said.
Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman agreed with that assessment.
"Unfortunately we'll never know what was going through her mind," he said. "It's just a horrible incident. We can hope that people take away from this the absolute necessity of being alert at all railroad crossings."
Ira Baldwin and Carol P. Steckbeck are spokespeople for Operation Lifesaver, a nationwide initiative for better railroad crossing education, enforcement and engineering.
Steckbeck and Baldwin said it's not uncommon for people to crash into a train whose engine already passed by, much like Tuesday's accident. Steckbeck said some drivers become distracted. Baldwin speculates others "drive over their headlights," meaning they travel too fast for the distance illuminated by their headlights.
The Federal Railroad Administration identified 70 railroad crossings in Wayne County, according to its most recent statistics.
Tuesday's crash scene was equipped with flashing lights, much like 30 percent of railroad crossings in Wayne County.
Approximately 24 percent of the county's crossings are equipped with crossing gates, which provide motorists extra warning.
Pennington did not know if crossing gates would have made a difference Tuesday morning. Other factors may have contributed.
"Certainly common sense is going to tell you the more lights that are visible, the more possibility that it wouldn't have happened," he said.
The FRA statistics show 45 percent of railroad crossings in West Virginia have flashing lights or gates, but those precautions do not prevent all accidents.
Baldwin and Steckbeck said about half of railroad crossing accidents happen where gates and lights are located.
"Maybe they're just in a hurry. They are not paying attention," Steckbeck said. "It's very tragic that it takes a crash like this for people to start paying a little more attention to the signals."
The number of highway-rail incidents have declined nationally and within West Virginia since 2005, according to the FRA.
