A pedestrian has died after being struck by a VIA Rail train in Chatham.
According to Mylène Bélanger, a spokesperson for VIA Rail, a train destined for Toronto struck a pedestrian shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday on Sass Road. Chatham-Kent police confirm to CTV News that a male was found with vital signs absent.
Bélanger says the train just departed from Chatham’s VIA Rail station with 81 passengers on board when the collision occurred.
“Let me express our deepest sympathies for those affected,” she says.
The locomotive engineers, who were operating the train, will be temporarily relieved of duty.
“There are programs to help them with this kind of incident.”
The track has been closed by emergency crews and traffic is being diverted, as police conduct their investigation into what caused the fatal collision.
Passengers on board will now be transported by bus to Toronto. Two other trains will also be affected by the closure. Train 71 - which was carrying passengers from Toronto to Windsor - will board a bus in London.
Passengers taking VIA train 76 from Windsor at 1:45 p.m. will instead be bussed to London, where they will board a train.
It’s unclear how long the track will remain closed.
VIA says this is the second fatal collision they’ve been involved in this year.
