An unidentified man died yesterday after he was hit by an Amtrak train on the tracks near Fairview Avenue. The collision came just one day after an Amtrak train hit a fallen tree on the tracks slightly north of Goleta.

[media-credit name=”Photo Courtesy of Santa Barbara County Fire Dept.” align=”alignleft” width=”250″][/media-credit]

A man is dead after an Amtrak Surfliner train hit him on the tracks in Goleta. According to the conductor, a group of people was seen throwing rocks at the train before the collision, but officials have not been able to identify the male yet.

At approximately 3:34 p.m. the train collided with what Public Information Officer Brad McVay said looked to be a 16 to 20-year-old male. As of press time, Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office has been unable to identify the victim.

According to McVay, the conductor reported she saw a group of three to four young individuals on the tracks making inappropriate gestures and appearing to be about to throw rocks at the engine.

“They were all on the tracks and they were throwing rocks at the train and flipping off the conductor,” McVay said. “She was focused on the group and tried to stop. When she looked back up they had moved out of the way, and she then noticed an additional person on the tracks. It was too late to do anything else and the train struck the person.”

The conductor was unable to stop the locomotive until about one-third of a mile after the crash. McVay said the train’s destination and number of passengers was unknown. Additionally, any other individuals who had been seen on the tracks left before officials arrived at the scene.

“The sheriff deputy’s officers all went out and there was nobody there when they got there,” McVay said.

However, McVay said train service was only delayed for about an hour. Amtrak was unavailable for comment as of press time.

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