Nokomis,IL : Five people in their 70s and 80s died on June, Thursday 15th 2017

Five people in their 70s and 80s died after a freight train hit their minivan as they returned from an ice cream social in central Illinois, Illinois State Police said Thursday.

The 79-year-old man driving the silver minivan failed to yield to the oncoming Union Pacific train at a rail crossing near Nokomis on Wednesday evening, Christian County and state police said. The front of the train struck the driver's side of the van, according to a preliminary investigation. The scene is about 75 miles northeast of St. Louis.

State police identified the victims as Herbert J. Castle, John A. Castle, Mary H. Castle, Nell R. Castle and Mary M. Pugsley, all from the nearby city of Pana. Three people were pronounced dead at the scene. Two were taken to St. Louis-area hospitals, where they later died.


Police said the victims' ages ranged from 77 to 89. Police didn't identify the minivan's driver.

"The people in the vehicle had been at an ice-cream social out in the country," Christian County Sheriff Bruce Kettelkamp told the (Decatur) Herald & Review.



Source :
Freight train-van collision in central Illinois kills 5 returning from ice cream social