Snowplow kills 2 in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A snowplow struck and killed two pedestrians in Kansas before sunrise Friday after a winter storm coated parts of the Midwest with snow.

The collision involving a Riley County plow truck happened shortly after 5 a.m., after the National Weather Service issued winter weather advisories across parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin and a large swath of Missouri.

Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Gardner said the victims, who were in their late teens or early 20s, appear to have been crossing a road with a 55 mph speed limit when they were struck north of the Kansas State University campus and near Tuttle Creek State Park. There are several mobile home parks in the area.

Gardner said the driver, who tried to avoid hitting the victims, wasn’t plowing or salting at the time and was driving with the plow’s blade raised. He said he didn’t know whether it was snowing but added that road conditions and speed didn’t appear to be a factor.

The victims’ names weren’t immediately released, pending notification of relatives. Gardner said he didn’t know if they were university students.

Marvin Rodriguez, chairman of the Riley County Commission, described the accident as a “tremendous tragedy.”

“Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to all involved in the accident,” he said in a news release.

The University of Missouri’s flagship campus in Columbia and Lincoln University in Jefferson City announced a late start and then called off classes entirely.

Numerous school districts canceled classes, including several in the Kansas City area.

Train collision leaves 6 injured

NEWINGTON, Conn. (AP) — An Amtrak train collided Friday with a maintenance truck working on the tracks in Connecticut, resulting in minor injuries to six people on the train, officials said.

Two workers were inside the truck when they saw the train approaching as they worked on the tracks in Newington. The workers were able to get out before the train struck the vehicle around 11 a.m.

More than 60 people were on board the train, which was heading north from New Haven to Springfield, Massachusetts.

Passengers were transferred to a later train.

The cause of the crash is being investigated, Amtrak said.