KEY POINTS:
A Bay of Plenty fire chief wants safety measures improved at the crossing near Te Puke, where two siblings were killed in a horror train smash.
Two young siblings are dead after their car was struck by a log train south of Tauranga yesterday.
The driver, Keeley Jamieson, 20, apparently ignored warning bells at a level crossing.
She and brother Ryan Jamieson, 22, a backseat passenger, died instantly when the back of their car was struck by the train at Paengaroa. They lived in the nearby area of Maketu.
The train driver frantically sounded his horn after seeing the car but was unable to brake in time.
A 25-year-old male in the car's front seat was taken to Tauranga Hospital. He was in a stable condition last night.
Three people in a four-wheel-drive parked by the level crossing narrowly avoided injury when their vehicle was clipped by the car.
Firefighters who attended the scene describe it as carnage, saying the car was "T-boned" by the train's impact.
Maketu fire chief Shane Beech says it is a black spot where he and his crew have responded to a dozen accidents in the past year. He says the odds are stacked against drivers as there are multiple blocks to visibility and a 100km/hr speed limit.
Toll spokeswoman Sue Foley says eyewitness reports the car was trying to race the train over the tracks are incredibly disturbing.
"At the end of the day the lights were flashing, the bells were working and these people clearly must have known the train was there and they have paid with their lives. I think the really, really sad thing about this particular accident, is that it was preventable.
Ms Foley says the train's driver is devastated because there was absolutely nothing he could do to prevent the crash.
Witnesses described hearing a loud crash and seeing the black car with silver mag wheels being crushed and shunted several metres, spinning into poles and ending up beside the tracks.
They said the crossing warning bells were working and the train sounded a horn before it hit the car.
The train driver was shaken but uninjured and was last night being helped by Victim Support.
News of the fatalities quickly spread to Maketu, and family and friends gathered at the scene.
A group of weeping girls said they knew the people in the car but did not want to comment further.
Three crews of firefighters went to the scene after the 4.50pm crash and spent more than two hours cutting the bodies from the wreckage.
Inspector Rob Jones said it was too early to know the cause of the crash but the people in the car appeared to have been wearing seatbelts.
An electrical contractor who was working on a power pole next to the crossing said he heard the bells and then a bang.
The 20-year-old, who did not want to be named, said he wondered if the driver had slowed to get over a hump at the crossing because the vehicle had lowered suspension.
"She slowed right down, went to go over the tracks, and didn't see the train at all," the contractor said.
"The car looked like it was almost going to make it, but then the train hit the back of the car and it spun around."
The young man, who was only metres from the pole the car hit, said the train had beeped its horn and had a big spotlight at the front that the car driver had obviously not seen.
There are no barriers at the level crossing and Maketu chief fire officer Shane Beech said the intersection of the highway and Maketu Rd, which the railway line crosses, was a "black spot".
There had been 12 crashes there in the past 12 months, he said, but the last fatal one involving a train and car colliding had been about two years ago.
Ms Foley said last night that 98 people had been killed in level-crossing accidents since 1993. That figure included the two people who died yesterday.
"Our real concern is that these guys have driven through lights and bells into the path of the train.
"Obviously people's behaviour around rail tracks is a concern.
"Our driver was sounding his horn and braking but there was just nothing he could do," Ms Foley said.
"It's just terrible - we have got two people dead. It's an absolute warning for people to start taking extreme care."
The government rail agency Ontrack says there have been 23 collisions between vehicles and trains at level crossings on public roads in the past 12 months.
Spokesman Kevin Ramshaw said that was well below a 10-year annual average of 32 collisions a year, but disappointingly higher than last year's tally of 16.
Mr Ramshaw said the crossing on Maketu Rd had flashing lights and bells.
But it was not among the 20 per cent protected by barrier arms.
- Additional reporting: Maggie McNaughton, Mathew Dearnaley
