Seattle Times: 2 escape being hit by 1 train, struck and killed by another
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
CENTRALIA—Two people missed being hit by one Amtrak passenger train but were struck from behind and killed by another Amtrak train Sunday night, authorities said.
The train struck two trespassers on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe main line at 7:54 p.m. in the south end of town, according to Gus Melonas, a railroad spokesman in Seattle.
The two people had just gotten out of the way of a southbound train and were standing in the northbound tracks when they were struck from behind by a passenger train traveling from Portland to Seattle, Melonas said.
The accident delayed two Amtrak trains and five freight trains before the tracks were reopened early yesterday, he said.
Imagine the brief feeling of exhiliration those two must have felt after they'd scrambled out of the way of that first train.
"Hey, we cheated death!"