A sheriff says two people have been killed after the vehicle they were in was struck by a passenger train in eastern Mississippi.

Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie tells the Meridian Star that the wreck happened Monday afternoon at an ungated crossing off U.S. Highway 11, south of Meridian Regional Airport.

The Amtrak train was traveling from New Orleans to Meridian and points northeast.

Sollie says the man and the woman who were killed were not immediately identified. He says based on paperwork in the vehicle, they appeared to be from the area.

The train came to a stop around 3 miles south of the airport.