MENTOR, Ohio — A 42-year-old man from Mentor-on-the-Lake was killed Thursday morning when he drove around a railroad crossing gate and his vehicle was struck by an oncoming train.
According to the Mentor Police Department, it happened on Hopkins Road at the south Norfolk Southern railroad crossing just before 10 a.m.
Police said the man was in a 2006 Ford F-150 heading south on Hopkins Road when the gates went down and lights activated at the crossing to indicate a train heading that way.
"According to witnesses, the F-150 passed two stopped vehicles, went around the gate, and was struck by the train on the passenger side of the vehicle," police said.
The man was ejected from the truck and later pronounced dead at the scene. The man was the sole occupant of the pickup truck. No other injuries were reported.
Hopkins Road between Jackson Street and East Avenue is closed while crews work the scene. he road will remain closed "for some length of time pending investigation," the city of Mentor said in a Facebook post. Drivers are asked to seek an alternate route.
The matter remains under investigation.
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