Thursday 30 July 2015

Photographer killed by train while taking photos on tracks


The Union Pacific recently launched a public safety campaign, warning photographers against doing photo-shoots on train tracks, but it seems not all have taken heed to that advice.
25-year-old Christopher O’Guinn was killed last week after being hit by a northbound train in Fresno as he photographed a model on the train tracks. Even though the train was reported to have honked it’s horn, O’Guinn was unaware of the train behind him until just before it hit him. He was carried away trying to capture a photo with a southbound train whizzing by in the background. Even though the model escaped unhurt, O’Guinn was pronounced dead at the scene.
The police explained that the Amtrak train came around a blind corner and couldn’t stop in time to avoid hitting him. The engineer in the case has been absolved of any wrongdoing, with Amtrak saying that he “did everything he could… sounded all the warnings devices… [and] put the train into full emergency,” but there was just not enough room. Amtrak officials  stated that  it can take as much as a full mile to stop an eight-car passenger train traveling at 79 mph.

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