UPDATE: Victim's mother: 'My heart has been ripped out'

OSHTEMO TOWNSHIP, MI -- The three people killed when an Amtrak train struck a minivan west of Kalamazoo Tuesday have been identified by police.

In a news release issued Wednesday morning, Michigan State Police identified the victims as 21-year-old Joshua Cartwright, 20-year-old Ashley Melson and 19-year-old Justin Mastin, all of Kalamazoo.

Police responded to the crash at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday on 11th Street near KL Avenue. Lt. Dale Hinz said that witnesses told police that a minivan, driven by Cartwright, was northbound on 11th Street when it drove around vehicles that were stopped for train crossing signals.

The van drove around the crossing signals and was struck broadside by an eastbound Amtrak train that was carrying about 120 passengers, Hinz said. The van was pushed about a mile before the train came to a complete stop.

The investigation revealed that railroad crossing lights, gates and bells were functioning at the time of the crash, police said.

Emergency workers were on scene for more than four hours, working to free the bodies from the van, in blizzard-like conditions.

"The case remains under investigation and serves as a grim reminder to motorists to never disregard train crossing signals," Hinz said in the news release.