The Nation - News from May 22, 1989

A Burlington Northern freight train hit a car trying to beat the train to a railroad crossing in Quincy, Wash., killing the driver and derailing 40 cars, authorities said. Alberto Perez, 21, tried to drive around the closed crossing barriers on the outskirts of town, when his car was struck by the train, police said. Beer cans were found inside Perez’s smashed car, indicating that he may have been intoxicated, police said. It took crews working with cutting torches nearly four hours to remove the victim’s body. Two members of the train crew suffered minor injuries, a Burlington Northern spokesman said.