Commuter train strikes and kills man near a Connecticut rail crossing

ANSONIA, Conn. — A Metro-North commuter train on Friday struck and killed a person in Connecticut who was spotted by an engineer crouching on the railroad tracks, an official said.

The white man, approximately 65 years old, was hit about 200 feet (60 meters) away from a railroad crossing in Ansonia at about 1:40 p.m., Metro-North spokesperson Aaron Donovan said in a statement.

The train had been traveling at 42 mph, the normal speed for that section of the track, when the man was first spotted. The engineer activated emergency brakes but said the man made no attempt to get out of the way, Donovan said.

The man was pronounced dead by Ansonia emergency medical personnel shortly after.

Service on the Waterbury Line was temporarily suspended while Ansonia and Metropolitan Transit Authority authorities investigated. Passengers aboard the affected train were transported by buses to the Derby-Shelton stop, where they could board a southbound train to Bridgeport.