3 people killed after car is hit by freight train in south Chicago suburbs
HARVEY, Ill. (CBS) -- Three people were killed Wednesday afternoon when a car went around crossing gates and was hit by a freight train south suburban Harvey.
The car went around the crossing gates for the CSX freight train tracks at the Park Avenue crossing near 153rd Street and Park Avenue.
The car then collided with the side of a CSX locomotive and was dragged almost two city blocks before being dislodged near the Broadway Avenue crossing.
Investigators were seen taking pictures of the silver vehicle that collided with the train. The impact was so severe that it was difficult to determine the car's make or model.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed three people were killed in the incident. One of the victims was identified as 32-year-old Keith A. Walker of Blue Island, Illinois.
No one on the train was hurt.
Three separate crossings—at Broadway Avenue, Park Avenue, and Halsted Street, were all closed for hours as the freight train remained halted.
By 10 p.m., the scene was clear. But the impact of the deadly crash will be felt forever, with lives lost.
Crashes caused by drivers disobeying crossing gates aren't new in Harvey
As families grieved, one father talked about how he as felt such unbelievable pain from the same tracks.
"It's just sad to see that it happened again," said Tyrone Rush.
Rush does not know the people killed on Wednesday, yet he knows exactly what their families are going through.
"Yes, I really do. The memory plays in my mind just like yesterday. Just being over here and seeing this, it's just like, it's like a nightmare," Rush said. "You're not going to get over losing a child or loved one."
Rush's daughter, Tieasha Rush, 28, and three others—Jada Moore, 38; her son Xavier, 23; and driver Jeremiah Robinson, 37—were killed along the same train tracks in Harvey back in March 2022.
The driver went through a railroad stop arm that was down near 155th and Halsted streets.
Surveillance video captured the SUV slamming into a freight train flatbed and bursting into flames in the 2022 incident.
"It's just hard seeing this again," said Tyrone Rush.
Freight trains are known to delay people for long periods of time from Halsted Street to Broadway in Harvey. Yet for some reason, drivers keep taking the deadly chance.
Back in January, four young women were critically injured when a white Ford Focus collided with a CSX freight train in Harvey—in another attempt to go around the crossing arms.
Rush wanted to remind everyone that a split-second decision can become someone's last decision—and the driver puts innocent passengers in danger by disobeying the train's crossing arms.
"It's not worth your life," he said, "so always think wise when it comes to these trains."
