FREMONT, Ohio — The two women and a 5-year-old girl died after a train struck a family while on a railway bridge in the north of the Ohio River, authorities said Monday.
The sonar-equipped crew were scrutinizing the Sandusky River the night before finding the girl’s body near the bridge on Monday, Fremont Mayor Danny Sanchez said.
The family, originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, was on a fishing trip along the Sandusky River. They were on the bridge on Sunday night when the trains reached a span, Sanchez said. The one-year-old girl was rescued and in danger, city officials said Monday.
It is not clear whether the train collided with all four of them or whether they jumped into the river to avoid the locomotive or thrown into the river, Sanchez said.
Details of what happened were still under investigation, Sanchez said.
The railway bridge was not intended for pedestrians and was marked as no signs of trespassing, the mayor said. He said he didn’t think his family was fishing from the bridge as the train approached.
City officials identified the victim as Ram Masan, 50 years old. o ny zar, 34; and Intisar Mi, 5; everything in Fort Wayne.
The two women who died were mothers and her adult daughters, the mayor said.
Railway operator Norfolk Southern said in a statement that the company was deeply saddened by the tragedy and was working with authorities on the investigation.