28 June 2006
Man Dies After Struck by Train
Edmonton Alberta - A 42-year-old man was
struck and killed by a freight train yesterday in front of horrified onlookers at one of the city's busiest intersections.
Tracey Byer, who was stopped in her car waiting for the train to pass at 23 Avenue and Gateway Boulevard, said it appeared the man had
been "playing chicken" with the train. "He was right on the track, doing a little sidestep dance in and out," said
Byer. "He had a big grin on his face when he did his last little sidestep."
After the man was struck by the front of the train, Byer leaped out of her car - her twin sons and husband remained inside - and felt
for a pulse on the denim-clad victim.
"There was nothing," she said.
Edmonton Police Service Const. Ryan Ferry said warning bells were ringing and lights were flashing when the man was struck and thrown
clear of the 51-car train around 6:20 p.m.
Witnesses also reported that the Canadian Pacific Railway train blew its whistle for at least 15 seconds trying to get the man to move
off the track. CP Rail spokesman Ed Greenberg said initial assessments show the train was travelling less than the track speed limit of
40 kmh.
Ferry said the man was waiting to cross the tracks eastbound when he was hit. He was pronounced dead in hospital.
Another woman, who didn't give her name, said the man asked her for change moments before he was fatally struck.
She declined to give him change and kept walking, but the man stayed behind. "I had a feeling he was waiting for the train to come
(and hit him). I wish I would have spent a little more time to speak to the man."
CP Rail investigators were expected to arrive at the scene last night.
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