Auburndale, Florida – Around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 21, 2018, PCSO responded to the railroad tracks north of Derby Road, near Atlantic Avenue in Auburndale, in reference to an adult Hispanic male deceased after having been struck by a CSX train.
Preliminary information so far is as follows:
According to the CSX train engineer and conductor, the train was traveling around 34 MPH. The train has 2 engines, 47 cars filled with rocks, and 11 cars filled with new automobiles. The train is 3,500 feet long and weighs 7,000 tons. As the train was traveling along, the engineer & conductor both saw a person sitting on a railroad tie on the tracks, facing north, with his legs extended out in front of him. They honked the horn repeatedly and initiated an emergency stop but the man never moved and the train did strike him. He was deceased on-scene.
Multiple efforts are being made to positively identify the decedent. As soon as positive identification is made and his next of kin is located I will send that information out. His autopsy will be tomorrow.
