An off-duty police officer tried in vain to prevent Saturday's crash of a 300-passenger train that hit a car at a rail crossing in southern England, killing seven people, police said on Sunday. The officer had spotted the car sitting stationary on the rural crossing with the road barrier up moments before the high-speed crash, police said. "The barrier then came down and the police officer went to the emergency phone. But before he could get any response a train came through and hit the car," Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter of British Transport Police said. The train ploughed into the vehicle and flew off the rails at the crossing near the village of Ufton Nervet, 65 km (40 miles) west of London. Police said one of those killed was in the car but said they did not know why the motorist had stopped. "We are going to get the vehicle examined, so that we can find out whether or not there is any mechanical defect, which may help to explain what happened," Trotter told reporters. He said it was astonishing that so many of the passengers had survived the devastating crash of the eight-carriage train, which was travelling from London's Paddington station to Plymouth in western England. --More 0154 Local Time 2254 GMT
