Two Men In Critical Condition After Being Struck By Train On North Side
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Two men were struck by a train and critically injured Sunday morning.
It happened along some tracks on the North Side just before 11 a.m.
The two men were taken away from the railroad tracks on stretchers and rushed to the hospital after they were both struck by an oncoming locomotive. A Norfolk Southern train stopped in a trestle along Canal Street after the accident happened.
"Two adult males who apparently were lying across the tracks," Sonya Toler, Pittsburgh Public Safety Officer, said. "It does not appear as if they were awake at the time when the train came around the bend. The train tried to stop, but it was too late at that time."
It appears the victims were seeking seclusion inside the trestle when they were struck by the train.
It's an area often frequented by the homeless and reportedly used for drugs.
"There's a lot of litter and debris along the tracks that speaks to what people do," Toler said, "and folks need to be aware, if you are going to do things that are basically health risks and mix that with being on the train tracks, you put yourself at risk of this happening to you."
A homeless advocate who does not want to be identified knows one of the victims. He says the area inside the trestle has been a known drug haven for years.
"These two guys there, they did not live back there," he said. "They were two of many who cops their stuff and come back there and get high."
He says five homeless men were forced off the property, and he hopes police will continue to fight drug abuse in the area.
"I applaud the police and their effort that they have done in the last week or so coming up there," he said. "There were two incidents where police came through and caught people up there getting high."
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