1 dead, 10 injured as church van crashes into train in Ohio

CINCINNATI (AP) — A van carrying vacation Bible school students crashed through a crossing gate and into the side of a freight train at a southwest Ohio rail crossing, killing an adult passenger and injuring nine children and the driver, authorities said today.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the gates were down and the warning lights activated when the van approached the crossing in the city of Middletown on Tuesday evening. Investigators were trying to determine why the driver kept going and crashed the 2002 Ford passenger van into the CSX train.

The van was taking students to evening vacation Bible school at the Church at Mayfield in Middletown, some 30 miles north of Cincinnati.

The patrol said the front-seat passenger, 62-year-old Jan Martin, died at Atrium Medical Center in Middletown nearly two hours after the crash. Police said nine children, ranging in age from 7 to 10 years old, and the female driver, also 62, suffered injuries that aren't considered life-threatening. They were taken to hospitals.