TWO kids and a woman have been hospitalized after a drunk driver ran them over in the same spot where their family member died years ago.
The family was struck while holding a vigil on San Antonio’s ghost tracks, where 23 students and their bus driver were said to have been killed in a deadly crash in 1938.
Railroad crossing signs at the San Antonio ghost tracks[/caption]
Jessica Rose Llanas’ mugshot after she was arrested for driving while intoxicated[/caption]
Just after midnight on Sunday, the family was gathered on the train tracks to remember their unidentified relative who died in a car crash in the notorious spot.
A driver, who San Antonio Police later identified as 34-year-old Jessica Rose Llanas, missed a turn and steered into the family.
Llanas ran over the feet of the two kids, aged nine and 11, and struck one adult woman whose head was injured.
The three family members were brought to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Cops responded to the scene to investigate Llanas, who cooperated.
Llanas was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated. The driver’s mugshot shows her with a seemingly bruised eye.
The U.S. Sun reached out to the San Antonio Police Department for more information.
GHOSTLY TALE
The scene, located at the intersection of Shane Road and Villamain Road, is known by locals as the site of a devastating school bus accident that sparked the name of ghost tracks.
According to urban legend, a school bus stalled as it tried to cross the train tracks and was hit by an oncoming train, killing all of the children on board and the school bus driver.
The legend says that to this day, anyone who parks their car near the tracks might encounter the ghosts of the children killed in the crash.
San Antonio locals say that drivers who park their cars in harm’s way will be pushed to safety by the ghosts.
Over the years, locals are said to have tested out the legend by waiting inside their cars to be pushed across the tracks.
Some visitors even sprinkle baby powder on the back of their car in order to catch ghostly handprints.
LEGEND DEBUNKED
However, the real 1938 tragedy occurred over 1,300 miles away, according to San Antonio NBC affiliate WOAI-TV.
Real story of the ghost tracks
San Antonio’s ghost tracks are known as the site of a deadly school bus accident – but the story’s origin actually happened near Salt Lake City, Utah.
On December 1, 1938, a school bus driven by 29-year-old Farrold Silcox was on the way to Jordan High School when tragedy struck, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety.
A speeding freight train ripped into the school bus, carrying 38 students and the driver, and tore the vehicle in half.
The bus driver and 25 students ultimately died.
Patrolman Bob Howard told the DPS that the scene was “horrible.”
“Your heart was aching, but there was no time for remorse. We had a job to do,” Howard said.
“There were lots of children who were badly hurt and who would expire in short order if we didn’t keep our wits about us.”
Somehow, the devastating story got mixed up with San Antonio’s train tracks – creating the urban legend of the ghost tracks over 1,300 miles away.
The outlet obtained a report of the actual bus-train accident from the San Antonio Express on December 2, 1938 – but the crash happened just outside Salt Lake City, Utah.
The driver, Farrold Silcox, reportedly couldn’t see the oncoming train on the tracks because he was driving the school bus during a winter storm.
A train going 50 mph tore into the side of the school bus, ultimately killing Silcox and 25 students, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety.
The horrific crash brought on national crossroad regulations that are still in place today.
It’s unclear how the San Antonio urban legend became mixed up with the Utah tragedy.
