Wednesday, March 11, 2015

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT KILLED BY FREIGHT TRAIN IN ROSELLE PARK WHILE HE WAS TRESPASSING AT 1 AM. POTENTIAL CAUSES: SUICIDE BY TRAIN, DRUNK OR ON DRUGS.




 A Roselle Park High School junior was killed when he was struck by a train while on the tracks between Locust Street and Faitoute Avenue early this morning.




POLICE IDENTIFY ROSELLE PARK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT AS TRAIN FATALITY; IT IS TREATED AS SUICIDE

THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015

ROSELLE PARK, NEW JERSEY

The victim struck and killed by a train early Wednesday morning was identified as an 18-year-old high school student, according to police.  

Andrew Roa, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene early yesterday morning, after a freight train struck him near the 300 block of Seaton Avenue, Sergeant Dominick Frino said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the young man was walking along the rail road tracks as a west bound Norfolk Southern freight train struck him at approximately 12:37 a.m., added Frino.

An autopsy performed this afternoon by the Union County Medical Examiner, determined Roa died from injuries obtained from the incident, the sergeant said.

Today’s fingerprint analysis results confirmed that Roa was in fact the fatal victim, contrary to previous reports that Roa was positively identified since yesterday.

Roa’s death is now being investigated as a suicide, as we have suspected from the beginning.  Who in the right mind would climb the elevated tracks at midnight other than a suicidal or crazy or disturbed or drugged or drunk person.

Schools and parents need to teach their children to respect private property and especially railroads.  Many people have been killed by trains, so stay away and do not trespass their property.

Source: rlsmedia.com


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MARCH 11, 2015

ROSELLE PARK, NEW JERSEY

While railroad tracks have long held a cultural resonance with Americans, featured in motion pictures, TV shows, music videos and photography, they are private property.  And they can be a deadly place.  In 2013, 476 people were killed and 432 were injured in trespassing accidents, according to preliminary data from the Federal Railroad Administration.

Borough school officials have identified the person struck and killed by a freight train early this morning as Andrew Roa, a Roselle Park High School junior.
 
"The administration, staff and faculty extend our condolences to the Roa family and to all of you in the school community who will be affected by Andrew's death," high school principal Sarah Costa wrote in a letter that was emailed to parents this morning and distributed to students this afternoon.

Roa was hit by a Norfolk Southern freight train shortly before 1 a.m. today, on a stretch of track between Locust Street and Faitoute Avenue, according to police.
The accident did not occur at a rail crossing.  Roa had apparently climbed onto the tracks and was trespassing there, said John Enright, spokesman for the freight rail service operator Conrail.

The train that hit him was traveling westbound on Conrail's Lehigh Line, which runs from Newark to Manville. 

This is the second time in four years a Roselle Park student has died after being struck by a train. In January 2011, a 16-year-old boy was killed by an NJ Transit train on a different stretch of track, a death authorities investigated as a suicide.
Costa said the school was providing counseling to students and otherwise following a crisis plan, as students and staff mourn.

"Unfortunately, this isn't the first time since I've been a principal here that we've lost a student," Costa said Wednesday afternoon. "The staff's been trained, and we're counseling the students and getting through the day."
Police are investigating the incident. An autopsy scheduled for this afternoon has been postponed until Thursday, and no details on the official cause of death were immediately available.

The accident caused some delays in rail traffic, but the tracks were clear by around 6:30 a.m., Enright said.

This was most likely suicide by train when he went onto the tracks at 1:00 am.  He may also have been drunk or on drugs or mentally ill.  In any event, he will not do this again.
Roa was one of two people hit and killed by trains today.
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ANOTHER SUICIDE BY TRAIN.  AN UNIDENTIFIED MAN WHO AUTHORITIES BELIEVE HAD POSITIONED HIMSELF ON THE TRACKS AND MADE NO ATTEMPT TO MOVE WAS FATALLY STRUCK BY A NJ TRANSIT TRAIN IN DOVER SHORTLY BEFORE 7 A.M.

MARCH 11, 2015

DOVER, NEW JERSEY

Authorities are investigating a fatality that occurred on the New Jersey Transit rail line near Dover station this morning.

At about 6:53 a.m., Morris-Essex train 1002 was traveling to New York Penn Station from Lake Hopatcong when it struck and killed a man who was trespassing on the tracks just east of Dover station in Randolph, New Jersey Transit spokesman William Smith said.

The preliminary investigation indicated that the man positioned himself on the tracks and made no attempt to move out of the path of the train, Smith said. New Jersey Transit police are handling the ongoing investigation, he said.
No one aboard the train was injured, and affected customers were accommodated by another train, Smith said.

New Jersey Transit first reported on Twitter at 7:30 a.m. that travel was suspended due to a "trespasser incident," which it later confirmed was a fatality.
Rail service on the Morris-Essex lines was suspended between Hackettstown to Denville stations following the incident, but service resumed at about 8:40 a.m., Smith said.


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NTSB TO HOLD FORUM ON THE DANGERS OF RAILROAD TRESPASSING



MARCH 11, 2015


WASHINGTON, DC


The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public forum March 24-25 on the dangers of trespassing on the railroad right-of-way.


While railroad tracks have long held a cultural resonance with Americans, featured in motion pictures, TV shows, music videos and photography, they are private property.  And they can be a deadly place.  In 2013, 476 people were killed and 432 were injured in trespassing accidents, according to preliminary data from the Federal Railroad Administration.


The forum, Trains and Trespassing: Ending Tragic Encounters, will be chaired by NTSB Board Member Robert L. Sumwalt. It will feature speakers who have been seriously injured by trains; those whose communities have been affected; and railroad employee assistance program employees whose train crews have struck people on railroad property. The forum will draw on the expertise of railroads, regulators, and researchers, among others, to review the diversity of trespassing accidents and incidents and look at current and future prevention strategies.


The forum will be held at the NTSB's Board Room and Conference Center, located at 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. However, on March 25, the forum will include a tour of Norfolk Southern’s safety train at Union Station.

More information about the forum can be found here: http://www.ntsb.gov/trespassing


The public can view the forum in person or by live webcast on the NTSB's website. As soon as they are available, an agenda and webcast details will be posted.