Police: 4 escape car hit by 2 trains going opposite ways

BEALETON, Va. – Authorities say an Amtrak train and a freight train headed opposite ways on parallel tracks in Virginia hit a car stuck at a rail crossing, but the four people escaped from the car before it was struck.

Virginia State Police said in a statement Monday that the Honda Civic became stranded at the private crossing Sunday night in Fauquier County. Police say the car’s 18-year-old driver and three passengers fled unharmed before the trains hit the vehicle.

Images from the scene show the mangled car between the trains. The Star-Exponent reports that they were an Amtrak Crescent, carrying 178 passengers on a New York to New Orleans route, and a Norfolk Southern freight train headed northward.