Update: Train strikes, kills man in act of suicide

A 40-year-old Auburn man was struck and killed by an Amtrak passenger train Monday afternoon on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks at 3700 B St. N.W. in Auburn.

The Auburn Police Department said the man took his own life, so the Auburn Reporter is not disclosing his name.

Eyewitnesses told police the man had been watching the tracks at the stoplight at 3:25 p.m. when he approached, laid his head on the rails and was struck by the train traveling at 70 miles per hour. A passing motorist saw what happened and called 911. Valley Regional Fire Authority firefighters responded and found the man dead north of the intersection next to the tracks.

This is the second pedestrian death on the rails in Auburn this year.

In May, an Amtrak passenger train struck and killed a 50-year-old Auburn man as he was walking along the BNSF tracks between the 1200 and 1400 blocks of C Street Northwest.

The man reportedly was talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident.

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