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Frontrunner train strikes and kills person in one county; mud covers freight train tracks in another

A man died Thursday morning when a Frontrunner train ran over him at the station in Orem.

“It appears as though he was distracted,” said Utah Transit Authority spokesman Carl Arky. “We don’t know if he had earbuds in or was on a cellphone or what at this point."

The man’s identity has not been released. The collision happened at 4:53 a.m. Afterwards, trains were delayed and UTA shuttled passengers with buses. Service was restored about 6:15 a.m.

UTA cameras showed that two men were crossing the tracks to reach the platform at the south end of the Orem station at 4:53 a.m.

“One of the men appeared to be aware that the train was approaching and darted across the tracks,” Arky said. “The other man never did pick up his pace, and he was the one who was struck. It's tragic."

About 65 miles north, in the Weber Canyon town of Uintah, a mudslide Wednesday covered freight train tracks.

Weber County Fire District spokesman David Reed told FOX 13 no homes are in danger. The slide stopped a train that was scheduled to roll through that section of tracks, Reed said.

An update on the cleanup and status of the tracks was not immediately available Thursday morning. This story will be updated.

Editor’s note: FOX 13 and The Salt Lake Tribune are content-sharing partners.


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