Victims have been identified

The three people killed when an Amtrak train struck a minivan west of Kalamazoo Tuesday have been identified. Michigan State Police identified the victims as the driver 21-year-old Joshua Cartwright, 20-year-old Ashley Melson and 19-year-old Justin Mastin, all of Kalamazoo. Police are still trying to figure out why their minivan pulled in front of an Amtrak train in Oshtemo Township on the west side of Kalamazoo. Witnesses said the crossing bells and safety arm were working, but the driver pulled out of line, started passing everyone that had stopped, and drove right into the path of the train. The train was doing 80 miles per hour and the van was demolished. A large part of it was pushed a mile down the tracks. The bodies had to be cut out with the Jaws of Life. Part of the van flew up in the collision and took down power lines. About 22 hundred people in the area lost power.  (MRN)