Blanca Maldonado, a mother of three from Commack, is confirmed to be one of the two people killed Tuesday when her vehicle collided with an oncoming Long Island Rail Road train in Brentwood, according to a report by the Daily News.
Maldonado, 52, died in the crash along with her 73-year-old father, Jose Adolfo Reyes, who was a passenger in his daughter's 2010 Nissan Maxima when she attempted to drive around a railroad crossing gate. According to the report, Maldonado's vehicle was in the direct path of the eastbound train when the two collided, causing a burst of heavy flames.
According to the report, Maldonado was rushing her father to a doctor's appointment when the train hit.
Both father and daughter died upon impact and were severely burned beyond recognition. No one on the train, which was carrying three Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees, but no passengers, was harmed in the crash.
The crash, just after 10 a.m., led to the temporary suspension of all service on the Ronkonkoma branch between Ronkonkoma and Farmingdale. Service returned to a regular schedule Wednesday.
