A woman died after she was struck by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train while walking the rail line behind the Westaire neighborhood in Martinez Saturday, not far from the site where a local girl was struck and killed by a BNSF train in 2014.
Officials said Liliana Alam, 32, of Martinez, was walking on the tracks near Westaire and Trailview, near the basketball court, when she was struck and killed by a passing BNSF train at about 6:20 p.m., the train’s operators aware they had hit someone as they rolled through the area and summoning help.
An early Flash Alert from this site to local residents touched off a wave of questions and anxious commentary from residents, with many referencing the 2014 death of Jenna Betti – a 14-year-old struck and killed by an eastbound freight train near Old Orchard and Howe on a Sunday evening in 2014.
In that case, investigators determined the girl was hit by the train after running back onto the tracks to pick up a cellphone she had dropped.
When a tornado or hurricane in full fury can be described as sounding like a freight train, it boggles the mind how this can happen. Repeatedly.