Amtrak train crashes into car in California, killing three

Three people were killed Sunday afternoon when their car was hit by an Amtrak train at a rural California crossing with no guard rails or signals.

The passenger train was crossing through unincorporated Brentwood, almost 60 miles east of San Francisco, around 1 p.m. Sunday when it hit a four-door sedan, officials told the Mercury News. Upon impact, the car was tossed 60 feet from the tracks.

Three people in the car were killed and at least two others injured, including a child.

A vehicle is damaged after colliding with an Amtrak train in Brentwood, Calif., on Sunday, June 26, 2022. (JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO/)

A spokesperson for the East Contra Costa Fire Department did not have updates when reached by the Daily News Monday but the Mercury News identified the three fatalities as women over 50.

“It was chaotic,” Fatima Jimenez, who was nearby when the accident happened, told the newspaper. “There are no words to describe it — I’m still in shock.”

Jimenez said she and other witnesses helped pull a man out of the car.

Contra Costa Sheriff deputies investigate the scene. (JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO/)

None of the more than 80 people on board the train were injured.

The railroad crossing has no guard rails or signals, according to officials.

“I’ve called (BNSF Railway) countless times to have them put in a crossing there,” Mitch Bloomfield, who owns the nearby vineyard, told the Mercury News. “They make a lot of money but they don’t like to spend it.”

A spokesperson for Amtrak did not return a request for comment from The News.