Mom Killed When Daughter's Car Is Hit By Train

A 77-San Leandro woman was killed late Tuesday night when the car in which she was a passenger was struck by a freight train on the tracks near Williams Street, police said Wednesday.

Pei Chuang Haung, 77, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident in which the driver of the car, her daughter, was uninjured, authorities said.

According to police, at about 10:10 pm Tuesday, the 56-year-old daughter was driving her 77-year-old mother when the driver, thinking that the tracks were a street, turned south onto the railway.

Police said the vehicle, a 2011 Toyota Prius, became stuck on the tracks. As the occupants of the car heard the freight train coming, they said driver got out of the car and attempted to get her mom out of the vehicle.

The driver was unsuccessful and the Union Pacific freight train struck the Prius from behind and pushed it approximately a quarter mile down the tracks before coming to a rest south of Castro Street. 

Authorities told reporters that the force of the collision threw the victim out of the car.

The driver was not injured.

The collision was witnessed by the daughter and two onlookers who were in a car at the Castro Street crossing.

Police said the collision was accidental. 

The story will be updated as details become available.

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