Truck hit by train was on tracks after warning, NTSB says

Witnesses told investigators that a garbage truck struck by a train carrying Republican lawmakers through rural Virginia entered the crossing after safety gates had come down, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released Wednesday.

The NTSB report said data taken from a track image camera on the train showed that as the highway-railroad grade crossing came into view, the gates were down and the trash truck was on the crossing.

The Amtrak train was carrying dozens of Republicans to an annual strategy retreat in West Virginia on Jan. 31.