5-Year-Old Girl, 2 Adults Dead After Metra Train Hits Vehicle

CHICAGO, IL — Chicago fire officials said three people — two adults and a child — died early Sunday evening after a Rock Island Metra train from Joliet to Chicago struck a vehicle. Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said the vehicle was struck at 107th Street and was dragged to 103rd Street and Vincennes Avenue on Chicago's South Side, where it came to a halt.

The crash happened around 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

On Monday morning, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified the child as 5-year-old Essence Ransberry. A second victim, was identified as Joneisha Ransberry, 38. The identity of the third person, a man, has not been released.

"It's heart-rending, it's gut crunching," Gillis said. "I've been doing this job for 12 years, it's the worst scene I've seen."

Gillis said Metra officials will download video from the train to investigate what led to the crash, but there is no indication the gates were malfunctioning.

"You have to obey the grade-crossing protection, I can't say that enough," he said.

A witness told WLS that a pickup truck drove around several cars and then around the gates, trying to beat the train.

Gillis said 41 passengers were on the train at the time of the collision, and three suffered minor injuries, including two people who were taken to area hospitals and one who declined treatment. The engineer suffered a leg injury and the conductor's back was injured, Gillis said.

One passenger told WGN he heard "the motorman blow the horn, trying to get the people on the track out of the way."

After the crash, passengers were taken via CTA bus to the Red Line to continue their journey downtown.

"The thoughts of everyone over at that scene, everyone at Metra, are with the victims and with our coworkers tonight, "Gillis said.

Sunday's crash was the second fatal train crash of the weekend in the area. On Saturday, a 5-year-old girl and two adults in East Chicago, Indiana. In that incident, a 2005 Honda Odyssey minivan was hit by a freight train at a crossing, ABC Chicago reported.