One woman and two boys were killed when an Amtrak train hit their SUV
A woman and two boys were killed when an Amtrak train crashed into their SUV in the Indiantown area of Palm Beach County, Saturday afternoon.
According to a crash report released Sunday by Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Trystan Prestano, 10, and Skyler Prestano, 8, were properly belted in a Subaru Outback with 58-year-old West Palm Beach resident Valery Jo Rintamaki at the wheel when she turned off Bee Line Highway onto North Grade Road. She slowed as she crossed railroad tracks that lacked a gate or railroad lights, but had only a “Yield” sign.
“The driver failed to yeild for a train that was traveling west,” the report said.
A Miami to New York Amtrak train smashed into the SUV on the left side. Rintamaki, Skyler and Trystan were dead at 2:01 p.m.
The Palm Beach Post reported that the boys were Rintamaki’s grandsons.
“It sounded like a shotgun going off,” Earl Megonigal, a check station operator, told the Post. “Then we heard the train stopping and ran up there and saw all the car parts.”
Amtrak spokeswoman Christina Leeds said the train was traveling from Miami to New York and that 200 passengers and crew were aboard.
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 3:47 PM with the headline "One woman and two boys were killed when an Amtrak train hit their SUV."
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