Officials in Northumberland County say a teenaged girl is dead and another teenaged girl is injured after the car they were in was hit by a train.
Now investigators are trying to learn what went wrong around 4:30 Monday afternoon in Milton.
“I heard a thud, it almost sounded like a tailgate on a truck slamming up,” said Amanda Hicks.
Neighbors living along Center Street in Milton were pulled from their homes after the sound of a crash.
Rushing outside, neighbors say they quickly realized a car had been hit by a train while crossing the Center Street intersection.
“It was a loud thump and I thought it was two cars here at the intersection,” said Joan Samsell. “Then my neighbor lady called and said it was a car that got here on the railroad tracks and pushed clear down to Mahoning Street.”
Milton police say the car, with two teenaged girls inside, was crossing the tracks at Center Street when it was hit by the oncoming train and pushed blocks away to Mahoning Street.
The coroner says the passenger, 17-year old Maxine Eschbach, of Milton was killed.
Police say the driver of the car is a 16 year old girl and she was left injured.
Milton police say their department along with state police and the owners of the railroad and the train are now investigating the crash.
While it`s unknown exactly what happened neighbors say they do see people going through the train signal at Center Street and there's no crossing gate at that intersection.
“The lights are working, the train did sound it`s horn, people try to beat the trains all the time,” said Hicks.
“Plenty of times the cars have went across in front of them,” said Samsell. “Same way if the kids are walking, they run right across, they want to beat the light.”