POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – A mother of six died after a train struck her car Monday morning in Pompano Beach.
Malita Hyppolite, 55, was being driven to a doctor's appointment by her 18-year-old daughter when the fatal crash occurred shortly before 9:30 a.m. on the railroad tracks near East Copans Road and North Dixie Highway.
Hyppolite was in the vehicle with two of her daughters and her 3-year-old granddaughter when the Toyota Corolla in which they were traveling was stopped on the tracks.
It's unclear how or why the car stopped, but it stopped just as two sets of crossing gates were lowering, trapping the car.
Hyppolite, who first made sure her children and grandchild were safe, was the last to get out of the car.
A witness told Local 10 News that three women and a toddler were inside the car that was stopped on the tracks as the crossing gates lowered. She said two women and a toddler got out of the car, but another woman didn't get out of the way in time.
She said a good Samaritan got out of his car and helped the woman out of her car, but she then tried signaling for the train to stop. The train wasn't able to stop in time and struck the woman.
"I was kind of wishful thinking that it just missed her, maybe she got out of the way, but then later on realized the unfortunate situation that she didn't," the witness said.
Family and friends have been stopping by the house since she was pronounced dead at the scene.
"That's my mother. You know? That's my mother," Curson Hyppolite said. "She's my everything. I am the first born."