2 Pedestrians Killed, 1 Injured In 3 Washington Train Incidents

KENT, WA — Sounder trains were again held Tuesday night after a train hit and killed a person on the tracks near Kent. Tuesday night's death was the third collision in 12 hours involving a pedestrian on Western Washington railways, and the second fatality that day.

According to a BNSF spokesman, five people have been hit by trains since Sunday and 19 since the beginning of the year. The latest incident involved a Sounder train traveling northbound from Tacoma, which fatally struck a person on the Green River Bridge at 4:45 p.m.

Following Tuesday night's collision, at least four trains were canceled with departures from Seattle and Tacoma. Buses were sent to Kent to help shuttle passengers further down the line. Sound Transit said the #1525 train scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. departure in Seattle was expected to leave on-time. South line trains were moving again at 6 p.m.

Tuesday morning, a Sounder train hit and killed a pedestrian on the tracks between Puyallup and Sumner, delaying trains in both directions for several hours. Later that morning, a Sounder train heading south from Everett to Seattle struck a man on the tracks near Ballard, according to BNSF. He was transported to the hospital.

Kent Police said early indications suggested the man hit Tuesday night may have intentionally been on the tracks when the train arrived. According to the Seattle Times, the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the man hit in Puyallup Tuesday morning died by suicide.

Over the weekend, an Amtrak train hit and killed a person in Puyallup, and a freight train injured a person near Kent.