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Posted: Tuesday, 14 July 2009 1:00PM
Grandparents, 7-yr-old killed when train hits car
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LASALLE COUNTY, Ill. (STNG) -- An elderly couple from the far west suburbs and their 9-year-old granddaughter were killed Monday when an Amtrak train collided with their car in LaSalle County.
It was the second collision between an Amtrak train and a car in the area in the past three days.
LaSalle County Sheriff's deputies were called to East 23rd Road just north of Route 34 near Somonauk at 3:07 p.m. Monday. According to police reports, an Amtrak train headed from Union Station in Chicago to California collided with a vehicle on the tracks.
Five people were in the car, according to LaSalle County Sheriff Tom Templeton.
Both 82-year-old Benjamin Rasmusen and 81-year-old Marilyn Rasmusen of Leland were killed in the crash, as was their granddaughter, 9-year-old Elizabeth Rasmusen of Bloomington, Ind., according to the LaSalle County Coroner's office.
Two others in the car, Amelia Rasmusen, 10, and Benjamin Rasmusen, 7, were injured and taken to a trauma center in Rockford, authorities said. The three children, all from Bloomington, are the deceased couple's grandchildren.
Templeton said evidence shows the car, which was southbound on East 23rd Road, did not stop before crossing the tracks, and was struck by the westbound train's lead engine. There are warning signs but no gates at the crossing.
None of the passengers or crew members on the train were injured, according to Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari. He confirmed a vehicle had been obstructing the tracks at the time of the crash.
Jim Weber of Kinsel's Collision Center in Sandwich towed the wreckage away. He said he had never seen anything like it and had to call for help collecting parts of the car. He said he couldn't even tell what kind of car he was dealing with.
The remains of the car will stay at Kinsel's, Weber said, until someone claims them.
It was the second local Amtrak crash in the past week. A train traveling from Chicago to California struck a 2005 Dodge Neon at Main and Center streets in downtown Sandwich on Friday afternoon, but neither of the car's occupants were injured.
The investigation is being conducted by the LaSalle County sheriff's and coroner's offices.
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