Teens from Wayne and Fairfield Struck and Killed by Train

Courtesy of Wayne Patch.

A 16-year-old killed in a train accident Sunday night was identified Monday as Alan Mendez, a student at , officials said.

Mendez and Nicholas Sabina, 17, of Fairfield, were killed shortly before 10 p.m., when they were struck on Wayne trestle near Route 46, NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett said.

A 15-year-old from Little Falls survived by jumping to an embankment below, she said. He was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson with non-life-threatening injuries. 

The boys were on the trestle in a "single-track area," Bassett Hackett said.

Interim Superintendent Michael Roth said the entire Wayne school district "family" was grieving the loss of Mendez, and grief counselors would be on hand for students and staff at Wayne Valley throughout the week. 

A moment of silence was held during ninth period, students said. 

"It's a devastating loss for our family," Roth said during a meeting in his office Monday. "Everybody's saddened about this tragic event."

Friends, who referred to Mendez as "A.J.," said he was always happy and smiling. 

"No matter what you would do to him, he would come back at you with a smile on his face," said Lauraine Prahm, a friend of the victim. "He always had a smile on his face and he always made you smile. He was so sweet and genuine. He was one of my best friends."

"Everybody's mostly in shock. Kids are just walking around with sad looks on their faces," said one student who was heading into the A&P on Valley Road on her lunch break. "We're all sad."

"People were quiet all day," another student, who declined to give his name, said after school Monday. "There was an eery feeling that we had in school."

Students said Mendez was a junior at the school. 

The teens were on the trestle on the Montclair-Boonton line shortly before 10 p.m. when they were struck by a train headed for a rail yard in Kearny, transit authorities said. No passengers were on the train.

Another person, possibly a child, was struck and killed by a NJ Transit train in Garfield shortly before 5 p.m. Monday.

Wayne Hills High School Principal Scot Beckerman suggested a safety rail be installed at the location. 

Bassett Hackett said that transit officials talk to approximately 10,000 students each year about railroad safety.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims of this unfortunate accident," she said.

Roth said he was waiting to hear from Mendez's family members about funeral arrangements and a possible memorial service.