NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. — North Tonawanda Police have identified the three people killed after their vehicle was hit by a train Friday.
David McGinn, 69, Olive Geldart, 66, both of North Tonawanda and Ra'Mari Geldart, 6, of Buffalo died at the scene.
Police say a pickup truck carrying the three people turned off River Road onto Felton Street and stopped in the middle of train tracks, as the railroad’s gates closed around them.
An oncoming Amtrak train struck the pickup truck, pushing it several hundred feet and killing all three passengers.
Authorities say they are still unsure why the truck stopped on the tracks, but they confirmed that a traffic stop was taking place directly on the other side of the tracks.
A witness told 2 On Your Side they believe that the traffic stop is what prevented the pick up truck from crossing.
Many are left wondering why Felton Street was not closed to oncoming traffic as a result, but the police chief said there was no reason to shut it down for a traffic stop.
Amtrak told 2 On Your Side train No. 281 was involved. That train was going from New York City to Niagara Falls when the collision happened. There have been no reported injuries to the 21 passengers or crew onboard.
The Buffalo Public School District issued this statement on Monday:
“Superintendent Williams and the entire district extend their deepest and most sincere condolences and prayers to the families and friends of the 6-year-old who tragically lost his young life due to a train accident over the weekend. As this loss of such a young life has shocked and saddened our entire learning community, but particularly BPS 90, where the child attended school, Superintendent Williams directed the Crisis Prevention and Response Teams to be onsite first thing this morning to lead a faculty meeting and to provide the staff with empathic direction for the day and to assist students experiencing loss, grief, fear, or trauma with a goal of helping them begin to heal. Since BPS #90 serves very young students, these crisis prevention specialists are trained to work with young children to help them in developmentally appropriate supportive ways to better understand and cope with the sudden loss of a friend and classmate. The district will reach out to the family to offer condolences.”
RELATED VIDEO: