3 Teens Die Trying To Beat Train

HOUSTON -- Three teens died late Wednesday after their car went through railroad crossing arms, collided with an Amtrak train and caught fire, deputies said.

Harris County sheriff's deputies said the driver tried to cross in front of a passenger train along Beaumont Highway at C.E. King Parkway at about 11 p.m.

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Slideshow: Teens Killed While Trying To Beat Train

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Investigators said the engineer sounded the train's horn and applied its emergency brakes, but was not able to avoid hitting the car.

"The three occupants in the vehicle, two Hispanic males and one Hispanic female, were found to have no signs of life here on the scene," Lt. Daryl Coleman said.

Deputies said none of the teens was carrying any identification. The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office planned to conduct autopsies to identify them and determine if any of them were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Witnesses told detectives that the driver went to extreme measures to try to beat the train.

"According to witnesses, as well as the engineer on the train, the driver of the vehicle disregarded the railroad warnings and went through the railroad arms," Coleman said.

Blinking lights at the track also warned that a train was on the way.

The train hit the passenger side of the car and pushed it about 2,000 feet down the tracks before the car caught fire.

"The engineer observed that the vehicle had caught fire and attempted to back the train away from the car," Coleman said. "He could not back it away. It actually drug the car back some distance, maybe 100, 150 feet, at which time he stopped, exited the train."

The engineer put the fire out with an extinguisher carried on board the train.

Union Pacific crews separated the car from the train.

The 66 passengers on board the train had no idea what had happened.

"None of them saw anything, heard anything or felt anything," Coleman said.

None of the passengers or crew on board the train was injured.

The train originated in New Orleans and was destined for Los Angeles. The train continued on its trip after a four-hour investigation.

Investigators are working to determine how fast the train was traveling at the time of the wreck. The legal limit on the tracks is 70 mph.

Mourners placed a white cross and flowers at the intersection.