Two young girls from Nowata, Oklahoma are dead after a train struck a sport utility vehicle near the town of Watova in Nowata County.
Hailey Marie Benham, 9, and her 6-year-old sister Hannah were pronounced dead at the scene.
The mother, 28-year-old Natalie Benham, was flown to a nearby hospital, by a Lifeflight helicopter, where her condition has been upgraded to stable with leg and internal injuries.
The collision occurred on Monday afternoon where County Road 280 crosses the railroad tracks just to the east of Highway 169.
Investigators with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol say the collision took place around 3:15 p.m. when the SUV apparently failed to yield to a two-car Union Pacific train. Neither the conductor or engineer of the train were injured.
The girls were both students at the Oologah-Talala elementary school where their mother works.
Police reports indicate that all of the occupants in the SUV were wearing their seat-belts at the time of the incident.
Hailey Marie Benham, 9, and her 6-year-old sister Hannah were pronounced dead at the scene.
The mother, 28-year-old Natalie Benham, was flown to a nearby hospital, by a Lifeflight helicopter, where her condition has been upgraded to stable with leg and internal injuries.
The collision occurred on Monday afternoon where County Road 280 crosses the railroad tracks just to the east of Highway 169.
Investigators with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol say the collision took place around 3:15 p.m. when the SUV apparently failed to yield to a two-car Union Pacific train. Neither the conductor or engineer of the train were injured.
The girls were both students at the Oologah-Talala elementary school where their mother works.
Police reports indicate that all of the occupants in the SUV were wearing their seat-belts at the time of the incident.