LOS ANGELES -- Authorities investigating a fatal collision that involved a car and Metrolink train said Wednesday that the crossing arms at the site were functioning properly.

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Conflicting reports surfaced following the collision Sunday in Covina. A 12-year-old girl was being treated in a Los Angeles hospital for injuries she suffered when the car driven by her father was struck by a Metrolink train, killing him and his 10-year-old niece.

Witnesses interviewed by KNBC News said the arm at the crossing never came down, contradicting initial reports that the man may have been trying to beat the train and raising the possibility that he did not see the train coming.

The crash occurred about 2 p.m. Sunday at Barranca Avenue and San Bernardino Road, said Supervisor Melanie Flores of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Earl Brown, 53, and his 10-year-old niece, Raven Elizabeth Smith, both of Covina, were killed, said coroner's investigator Larry Dietz.

Brown's 12-year-old daughter was airlifted to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. She was in critical condition.

No injuries were reported among the train's passengers.

The train -- en route from Union Station to Riverside with about 150 passengers aboard -- had left the Citrus Avenue station and was traveling about 40 mph when it entered the railroad crossing at Barranca Avenue, said Covina police Sgt. John Curley.

The train collided with a Mitsubishi Galant that was southbound on Barranca inside the crossing area and pushed it about 75 feet from the point of impact, Curley said. The three occupants of the car were wearing seat belts, he said.

Investigators believe the railroad crossing arms were functioning properly at the time of the collision, Curley said.

Earl Brown's brother-in-law, Stanley Smith, told KNBC News: "My brother-in law, he would never try to outrun those gates. You know, he has kids with him ... on his way home from church, and maybe not even a half a mile away from his house, you know, and there's no rush to get home."

A memorial fund was established:

Raven Smith And Family
Bank Of The West, Convina Office
Acct. No. 677088619