Amtrak train collides with SUV in North Carolina, killing pastor, wife, officials say

A pastor and his wife were killed on Sunday after an Amtrak train collided with their SUV. (WNCN)

A well-known pastor and his wife were killed Sunday after an Amtrak train crashed into their SUV in North Carolina, officials said.

The SUV attempted to go around a lowered crossing arm and cross the tracks just after 2:20 p.m. when an Amtrak train collided with it in Whitakers, about 10 miles north of Rocky Mount, WNCN reported. The couple, identified as Eugene and Dorothy Lyons, were pronounced dead at the scene.

“It bothered me because growing up here I’ve seen train wrecks before, it really touches close to home with people who grew up with and know,” Whitakers Police Chief Darrell Cofield told WNCN, adding the couple was well known in the community.

Eugene Lyons was a pastor in Whitakers, friends told the news station.

The Amtrak train 89 was traveling from New York City to Savannah, Ga. when the collision happened. No one aboard the train was injured, but service was temporarily suspended.