SEATTLE — A freight train hit a man in a wheelchair before dawn Thursday on tracks along the Seattle waterfront near the grain elevator.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas said the man was taken to Harborview Medical Center where he died.
Melonas said it’s unclear how the man was able to maneuver the wheelchair onto the tracks because there is no nearby crossing. He may have entered the right of way through a parking lot.
He was hit at 5:23 a.m. by the southbound freight. The line was shut down until 7 a.m. Five freights and a Sounder commuter train from Everett were delayed.
Melonas says it’s the seventh fatality this year involving people trespassing on BNSF tracks in Washington.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.