West Virginia Police and investigators are still baffled at why a minivan drove into the path of a train in Huntington, West Virginia on Tuesday. The van held two sisters, Samantha Fields, 38, ad Alberta Lewis, 41, and left two teenaged girls, Abbie Fields, 16, and Kayla Frye, 17, in critical condition. Both girls are at Cabell Huntington Hospital.
A witness who saw the train crash said that the warning lights were in working order at the time of the crash, and friends and coworkers are baffled at why the four would have even been driving south at the early hour of 5 a.m. Investigators are looking into the van’s brakes as well as into a theory that the women were traveling to Wal-Mart to shop. In addition, police are waiting for toxicology reports.
Police do not believe that the train’s conductor was at fault, while train company Norfolk Southern echoed that belief.
Although the crash remains unexplainable, it could have simply been a matter of the driver being inattentive or in a rush. Officials are hoping that when the two girls recover, they will be able to give police a better idea of why such a tragedy took place.