SENECA COUNTY — A Bellefontaine resident who was a passenger in a pickup towing a boat was killed Saturday morning when the pickup crashed into a train at a railroad crossing in northern Seneca County, according to published reports.
Francis Mckenzie, 59, was pronounced dead at Mercy Health Tiffin Hospital, where he was taken following the 6:45 a.m. collision on State Route 53 Pleasant Township, troopers of the Fremont Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Fremont said.
The driver of the vehicle, Donald Haley, 59, of Bellefontaine, also reportedly sustained incapacitating injuries and was transported to the Tiffin hospital.
Troopers said Haley was operating the northbound pickup on S.R. 53 when it collided with a westbound train at the crossing, marked with warning lights and gates, near Old Fort.
The vehicle went off the roadway’s left side after impact, while the boat trailer ended up in one of the travel lanes and was hit by another vehicle.
The train crew was not hurt, and impairment is not suspected as a factor in the crash, troopers said. The patrol’s investigation continued later Saturday.