Video: Auburn man hit by train while talking on cell phone

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AUBURN, Wash. – A man talking on his cell phone while walking down the middle of train tracks killed by an Amtrak train Wednesday near Emerald Downs.

It's the second time in less than a month a person walking and talking on their phone has been killed by a train.

Auburn Police say Wednesday's accident happened around noon in the 1400 block of C Street NW, just south of Emerald Downs racetrack. The man was walking north along the tracks when the train came up behind him. The engineer sounded the horn and hit the emergency brakes, but there wasn't enough time to stop.

"He did not respond in any way to the sound of the horn," said Sgt. Scott Near, Auburn Police.

The train was traveling an estimated 80 miles per hour when the engineer tried to slow down. The man was killed instantly.

"It took a while. You could just smell the brakes 'cause they were probably braking as quick as they could so the whole car filled up with the smell of brake pads," said passenger Fred Cole.

"We didn't see anything. We felt a slow down I think prior to coming to an actual stop," said passenger Justine Schmidt.

A 17-year-old girl was talking on her cell phone when she was killed while crossing train tracks in Kent April 21. Kent Police say Angellina Ann Rodriguez was crossing the tracks about 200 yards north of a marked crossing.