Aviston man killed when train strikes car in Germantown
An 80-year-old Aviston man was killed Friday when the vehicle he was driving was struck by a train at a crossing in Germantown.
The collision occurred around 11:30 a.m. on the Norfolk Southern railroad crossing at Breese-Germantown Road. Clinton County Coroner Phillip Moss said Stephen Hellmann died of blunt force injuries. Hellmann was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:42 a.m.
Moss said Hellmann was southbound on Breese-Germantown Road when the westbound train collided with Hellmann’s vehicle.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash and no one else was injured.
The Clinton County Sheriff’s Department is handling the investigation into the crash, but Sheriff Doug Maue was not available for comment Friday and the department would not release any information.
Moss declined to comment further, saying authorities were working with Norfolk Southern to obtain footage from the forward-facing camera on the train to learn more about the crash.
Railroad employees at the scene were not authorized to comment on the crash Friday afternoon. A railroad public information officer in Virginia could not immediately be reached.
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Tobias Wall: 618-239-2501, @Wall_BND
This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 5:33 AM with the headline "Aviston man killed when train strikes car in Germantown."