3 killed by Amtrak train after their car bypasses crossing gate

3 killed by Amtrak train after their car bypasses crossing gate With Video
Willoughby Mariano | Sentinel Staff Writer
11:11 AM EST, November 29, 2008

Two men and one woman died Friday night after the sedan in which they were riding bypassed crossing gates and flashing lights and was hit by a passenger train in south Orange County.

The crash occurred about 7 p.m. at east Lancaster Road and South Orange Avenue, as the occupants of a four-door, 1994 Buick were traveling between the homes of friends, said Sgt. Kim Miller, a Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman.

The sedan was crossing the tracks eastbound on Lancaster when a northbound Amtrak train carrying about 170 passengers crashed into it. The car went airborne, landing hundreds of feet away near a warehouse parking lot. It smashed into a parked tractor-trailer before overturning.

Driver Walter Martinez, 22, was pinned under the car. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Cristina Rosa, 19, and John Penaloza, 27, were pronounced dead at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Victor Carrillo, 22, was in serious condition at ORMC.
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