Train hits car, woman killed

WILLOW — Alaska State Troopers say a woman whose car was on the railroad tracks was hit and killed near Mile 69 Parks Highway Thursday.

According to a trooper press statement, at 6:05 p.m. troopers were called to the site of the accident at the railroad crossing on Willow Station Road. Emmila Denny, 66, of Talkeetna, was on the tracks driving a Subaru when the train hit her.

“What we know right now is that she had approached the train area and stopped, the mechanical arm came down and was on top of her vehicle. Witness accounts tell us at the last minute the vehicle lurched forward,” said trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters. “We have contacted the family and they tell us she had a new vehicle and she was learning how to use the clutch.”

What exactly happened inside the car just before the wreck, though, is yet to be determined, Peters said.

Troopers say 700 passengers were onboard the train. None of them were injured.