(The following article by Tim Leeds was posted on the Havre Daily News website on November 2.)
HAVRE, Mont. — A Havre-based employee of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. was killed this morning at Bowdoin, about 15 miles east of Malta, a BNSF spokesman said.
Gus Melonas of BNSF said the employee stepped out of a nonmoving train about 5:20 a.m. and was struck by a westbound BNSF freight train.
He said he would not release the name of the victim this morning.
“This is a tragic situation for all of us involved,” Melonas said, adding that the investigation is in a very early stage and BNSF will be receiving new information about the incident as the day progresses.
“We will have additional details later in the day,” he said.
The employee was working on a general freight train that started in Pasco, Wash., and was destined for the Minneapolis area, Melonas said. The train that struck the employee was an intermodal train that started in Chicago and was heading to Seattle, he said.
The railroad shut down the line and reopened it at 9:30 a.m., Melonas said.
Amtrak spokesman Mark Maglieri said it appeared that the closure would not impact passenger-rail service on Amtrak’s Empire Builder.