Second train accident in a week: Man killed after being struck by train – just days after woman was hit trying to retrieve her phone
A man has died after being crushed under a train carrying sugar cane to a sugar mill in north Queensland, days after a woman was killed by a train in Sydney.
Emergency services were called to Brewers Road, Sarina, 930km north of Brisbane, on Thursday afternoon after reports of a collision involving a pedestrian.
A spokeswoman for Wilmar Sugar and Renewables confirmed that a fatal incident occurred on a railway bridge late this afternoon ‘involving one of our locomotives’.
The train came into contact with the man on the Plane Creek Bridge, she told the Daily Mercury.
“We are providing our driver with all possible support,” the spokeswoman said.
Police, fire brigade and ambulances rushed to the scene after Wilmar employees reported the emergency call just after 5pm.
The emergency services were unable to save the man.
Reports say efforts took hours to recover his body.
A man has died after being crushed under a train carrying walking sticks in Sarina (pictured) in north Queensland
Sergeant Trevor Robson said the man could not initially be identified.
“This afternoon an unidentified man was killed by a fully loaded sugar cane train,” Sgt Robson told reporters on Thursday evening.
The police believe that there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson confirmed that firefighters were called to the accident by the rail operator at around 5.15pm.
The fire brigade left the scene of the accident around 8:10 p.m., but the police were still on site.
All night trains on the line were stopped.
The fatality in Sarina was the second fatal train crash this week, after a woman was hit in Punchbowl in Sydney’s south-west on Tuesday afternoon.
The woman, in her 50s, had climbed onto the tracks to pick up something she had dropped, but she was unable to climb back onto the platform.
Emergency services were called to Brewers Road, Sarina, 930km north of Brisbane, on Thursday afternoon after reports of a collision with a pedestrian. A Queensland ambulance is pictured
Emergency services rushed to the station and NSW fire and rescue crews attempted to free the woman from under the train.
She was immediately taken by ambulance to St. George’s Hospital, but tragically passed away there on Wednesday morning.
Police spoke to witnesses at the scene and viewed CCTV footage as part of their investigation.
The driver gave a negative breath test.