Train Accident Kills Two People - kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and Killeen

A gruesome accident in Killeen early Friday morning kills two people.

Around 2:00 a.m. the driver of a Dodge Charger went around a barrier at the railroad crossing on Gilmer Drive.

Both the driver and the passenger were killed after being hit by a train.

"These two people senselessly lost their lives," said Carroll Smith with the Killeen Police Department.

It was a tragic accident she says could easily have been avoided and one that happened almost in Scott McCommas' back yard.

He owns B&K Pawn, just around the corner.

"Well, I heard about it this morning, when I turned on the news. It's kind of shocking to hear it that close to home," Scott said.

Tina Goebelt lives only a few blocks away.

She said, "We hear things happening, but they're not always downtown, so I was kind of surprised and really very saddened for their families."

A Fort Hood soldier, whose name has not been released pending notification of his family, and Coral Ghambi were killed on impact, when their car was smashed off the track.

Both were just 26-years old.

Smith said, "It's hard for anyone to calculate how fast a train is going, but you'd be surprised how many people you see going around those barricades, because they think that train is really far off, and it's not so far off."

Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Spokesperson Joseph Faust says the train was going 35 miles per hour, 20 under it's limit.

"By federal law, our trains have to start sounding our whistles approximately 1,500 feet from the crossing," Faust said.

Because of it's size, a train going 50 MPH takes a mile to stop, so by the time the operator sees someone in its way, it's too late.

Faust said, "A lot of individuals sometimes think that they can beat it and think that there's some type of option that our locomotive engineers have, but there's not."

"That's why they put those barriers there, to stop, so it's not really something you expect," said Scott.

It's something for all drivers to follow to make sure no more lives are lost.

Reporter/Photographer: Sophia Stamas sstamas@kcentv.com