Rose Mendola, 75, of Woodlee Lane, died in DeGraff Memorial Hospital at 8:45 p.m., about 50 minutes after the accident, which occurred on Felton Street, police said.

According to a North Tonawanda police report, Mendola was a passenger in a westbound car driven by Marie Witkowski, 68, of Kenmore. The vehicle stopped at the railroad crossing, where the safety gates had come down, either on or in front of the vehicle, before the driver could clear the intersection.

Witkowski could not back up, because there was another vehicle behind her, police said. So she got out of the vehicle and yelled to her friend to get out.

But Mendola couldn't get out of the vehicle before it was struck by the northbound train, which was traveling at about 55 mph.

North Tonawanda police still are investigating the accident