A 34-year-old man fell and was dragged 100 yards to his death after trying to leap onto a freight train in Fort Collins just after midnight today.
The name of the victim has not been released pending notification of family members, said Scott Crumbaker, Fort Collins police spokesman.
Engineers aboard the 103-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe train told police they began to stop the train when they spotted a man jump onto the seventh car behind the engine at 12:04 a.m. near the intersection of West Laurel and South Mason streets, authorities say.
The train was traveling about 10 mph at the time, train spokesman Steve Forsberg said.
“Usually people try to grab onto a ladder and pull themselves up,” Forsberg said. “He must have slipped in some way.”
The man went under the wheels of the car, which can weigh more than 100 tons, and it dragged him about 300 feet, authorities said.
The train came to a stop just south of West Prospect Road and South College Avenue, Crumbaker said.
The man was pronounced dead near the tracks, Crumbaker said.
The train with various types of freight was en route to Dallas from Pasco, Wash., Forsberg said.
He said that the tracks are on private property, and it is trespassing for anyone to go on them. Two days ago, a 22-year-old man was hospitalized after trying to jump aboard a train in Prairie Du Chien, Wis., in a similar accident, he said.
“I can’t think of a more dangerous way to try to get a free ride,” Forsberg said.
The Fort Collins Police Department’s collision reconstruction and scene handling team and train company officials will investigate the accident, Crumbaker said.
The 100 block of West Prospect and the intersection of Laurel and Mason streets were closed for approximately five hours for the investigation.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
