2 Killed, Baby Injured In Van-Train Accident

MER ROUGE, La. (AP) — Two women were killed and 10-month-old baby was critically injured when their van was hit by a train in Mer Rouge.

Morehouse Parish Sheriff Mike Tubbs tells The News-Star the baby had to be extricated from the vehicle and was taken to a Shreveport hospital.

Tubbs said the driver of the van was leaving a business in Mer Rouge about noon Thursday on U.S. Highway 165 North when she drove onto a railroad crossing.

He said witnesses told authorities the driver seemed to stop then pulled forward into the path of a Union Pacific train.

Tubbs said the driver of the vehicle and an adult passenger, the driver's sister who was nine months pregnant, died on impact.

Authorities have not released the names of the victims.