4 dead after SUV-train accident

Police are still investigating some of the details behind a tragic story that unfolded this morning: at about four AM, a stolen SUV carrying several teenagers hit a stalled train near Baytown, leaving four of the young passengers dead.

Police reported that the driver of the Jeep Cherokee did not see the train and ran right into a tanker car. The four backseat passengers were killed instantly. The driver was taken by helicopter to Memorial Hermann and is in critical condition. A front seat passenger was also transported to the hospital, but is in stable condition. The four passengers who were killed ranged in age from 12 to 17.

The father of one of the crash victims, Doug Moyers, described learning about the crash, which involved his daughter and his niece, ages 12 and 14. He and his family realized that his daughter was out of the house in the middle of the night and she did not answer her cell phone when they called her. Another one of his daughters located the wreck and the father was able to recognize his daughter by her clothes as soon as they pulled her out.

Moyers pointed out that that there are no lights or gates at the railroad crossing and that there was a train collision there several years ago. A Union Pacific spokesman was berated by the Moyers family and other area residents because of the lack of active signals at the crossing. However, the spokesman said that signs at the crossing meet federal standards. Grandfather Donald Moyers said that he will "go on a crusade" to make this railroad crossing safer.

Picture via chron.com.