High School Coach Killed as Train Strikes His Car
A high school football coach was killed when his car plunged over the side of a freeway in Santa Fe Springs and was struck by a train, authorities said Friday.
John Hangartner, 54, who coached at Magnolia and John F. Kennedy high schools in Orange County, may have had a heart attack as he drove south on the San Gabriel River Freeway about 9 p.m. Thursday, causing him to lose control of his car north of Telegraph Road, a coroner’s spokesman said. The 1983 Nissan smashed through a guardrail and plunged about 185 feet down an embankment, landing upside down on some railroad tracks where it was struck by a 34-car Southern Pacific train moving at about 15 m.p.h., California Highway Patrol Officer David Boyland said.
The conductor saw the wreckage on the tracks but was unable to stop in time. The car was dragged about 200 feet before the train stopped. The car was so badly mangled that firefighters had to cut the roof off to free the driver, Boyland said.
An autopsy was expected to determine if Hangartner had a heart attack.
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