THURSDAY UPDATE: Pedestrian Struck, Killed by Amtrak Train

Update, Thursday, Oct. 18, 11:30 a.m.:

Cpt. Mike Harvey of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office said this morning: "We have notified the next of kin of who we believe the victim was.  But we cannot release that information to the public until the Medical Examiner has DNA results, which could take up to two weeks."

Update, 7 p.m.:

Officials are still investigating the fatality which occurred on railroad tracks in the area of Mine and Benchmark roads earlier Wednesday afternoon.

Cpt. Mike Harvey of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office said the Amtrak train engineer reported that when he came to a bend in the tracks — about 200 yards from where a man was hit — he saw the man walking east across the tracks.  The engineer reported the man crossing the tracks did not even look up or acknowledge the train, said Harvey.  The engineer said there was no time to stop the train, said Harvey. 

The Amtrak train that hit the man had about 227 passengers on it, Harvey said. Harvey said three trains are stalled behind that Amtrak train, but another train is being sent to transfer the stalled passengers to continue south. 

Harvey said there would be no additional updates this evening. The remains have been sent to the Medical Examiner's office in Richmond, where identification will be made through DNA. 

"We are going to look at every angle to find out why this happened," said Harvey. 

Northbound traffic on Benchmark Road is being diverted left onto Mine Road.

Original Post: The Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office is investigating a fatal train versus pedestrian crash Wednesday in the area of Mine and Benchmark roads, officials say.

Cpt. Mike Harvey said in an email the fatality happened around 4 p.m. and that the victim is a white male. 

The man was struck by an Amtrak passenger train 300 yards north of the crossing at Benchmark and Mine roads, Harvey said. 

Harvey told Patch the train is past the Fredericksburg station, so it is not affecting Virginia Railway Express trains. Harvey said all Amtrak and freight trains are on hold until officials clear the scene.

Patch will update with more information as it becomes available. 

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