Investigators are still piecing together what caused a crash this morning between a car and a CSX freight train in Frostproof.
The car's occupants, Betty Cramer, 69, and Billy Jack Rollins, 73, both of the same address in Frostproof, are being treated at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said. They are listed in critical condition.
Detectives have not been able to interview either of them. Because of the state of the wreckage, investigators also have not been able to determine who was driving the 2002 Hyundai Elantra, sheriff's spokesman Donna Wood said.
Authorities shut down U.S. 98 between West Frostproof Road and U.S. 27 after the Hyundai hit one of the rear freight cars at 1:47 a.m., causing three of the train's 26 cars to derail, officials said.
The collision flipped the victims' car upside-down and pushed the crushed vehicle about 50 feet. Rollins was ejected from the car, Wood said.
Engineers with CSX used a crane to move the three derailed freight cars off the tracks so workers could repair the line, which is used by both CSX and Amtrak, railroad officials said.
The train's crossing on U.S. 98 is marked with lights and signals, Wood said.
Federal Railroad Administration records show the last wreck at that crossing was in 1980.
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