DATE: Monday, March 17, 1997                TAG: 9703170124
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Briefs 

DATELINE: THE PENINSULA                     LENGTH:   28 lines

THE PENINSULA MAN DIES AFTER TRAIN HITS CAR AT UNGUARDED CROSSING

A Williamsburg man was killed early Sunday when a car in which he was riding struck a train at an unguarded railroad crossing in Newport News, city police reported.

Mark Daniel Wyatt, 28, of Williamsburg was declared dead at the scene from massive head injuries, police said.

The driver, identified by police as Steve Cottle of River Mews Drive in Newport News, was taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center with injuries to the neck and leg. Cottle, 26, was listed in stable condition Sunday, and police said he was expected to recover.

The accident happened shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday. Police said Cottle's teal blue Cavalier was traveling southbound on Warwick Boulevard when it clipped the front corner of a CSX train at the intersection of Warwick and Elmhurst Street. The train was backing up across Warwick, said police spokeswoman Patricia L. Schlosser. There were no flashing lights or barriers at the crossing.

Police said the Cavalier was going about 50 mph in a 35 mph zone and that neither man was wearing a seatbelt. KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAIN FATALITY DEATH

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