BY NBC SAN DIEGO
A man is dead after he was hit by an Amtrak train in Midtown, according to the San Diego Police.
The 24-year-old man was struck near Pacific Highway and W. Washington Street around 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Police said the victim was wearing headphones and looking at some kind of handheld device, so the incident appears to be accidental.
Witness Reno Torres was sitting in his car, waiting for the trains to go by when he saw the whole thing.
He told NBC 7 the man was just getting off the trolley. The railroad crossing barriers were down and warning lights were flashing on the street, but there is no barrier separating the trolley tracks from the train tracks.
Just as the man stepped on the tracks, a train approached. Torres said he tried to roll down his window to yell at the man, but it was too late.
The pedestrian was hit by the train, his body flying 50 to 60 feet from the initial impact site, the witness said.
Torres has seen a lot of things while serving in the military on deployment in Iraq, but he said this man's death is the worst thing he's ever seen.
"I'm very distraught. This was very distrubing to see. A young man lost his life. I can only imagine what his family will go through when they find out," said Torres.
Emergency crews pronounced the man dead at the scene.
The northbound COASTER train 689 has been cancelled, according to the North County Transit Twitter page.
