‘Train to Christmas Town’ with dozens of children onboard hits, kills man and woman
A dress rehearsal run for a Christmas-themed train in Massachusetts turned fatal over the weekend when the “Train to Christmas Town” struck and killed two pedestrians.
There were 355 passengers on board the train at the time, “approximately 200 were children,” according to a Facebook post by Cape Cod Central Railroad, the operator of the train.
The passengers, “coincidentally,” were first responders and their families, said the post, signed by Cape Rail president P. Christopher Podgurski.
The children on board weren’t told why the train had to stop. Staff told them the train had run out of “magic gas,” WCVB in Boston reported.
The train company called police about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday after the train, decked out for Christmas, hit two pedestrians in Wareham, Mass., according to the Boston TV station.
Authorities did not identify the victims - a 33-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man, MassLive.com reported. They were reportedly on the tracks when they were struck, according to MassLive.
“The conductor made attempts to stop the train and activated the train’s emergency braking system prior to impact,” the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement, according to MassLive .
The railroad’s statement on Facebook said the “tragedy occurred in an isolated stretch of track ... as the train was traveling north from Buzzards Bay,”
District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz told WCVB that no one on board was injured.
Newsweek reported that everyone on the train had to wait several hours while authorities investigated the tragedy.
Two women who said they were on the train left messages on Facebook thanking the railroad for taking care of the children.
“Thank you, for the unreal efforts made to keep the magic on that train for my child and all the other children,” wrote one woman. “I hope the crew on board knows they did an exceptional job.”
“My husband and I and our young children were on the train last night,” wrote another woman. “I can not say enough wonderful things about the staff. They stayed professional, calm and compassionate with the situation they were sadly put in. Thank you for having us and prayers to the families of the deceased.”
Kristy Sassone of Mashpee, Mass., who was on the train with her 9-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, told the Cape Cod Times she didn’t know anything was wrong when the train stopped.
“It was a long night for the kids,” Sassone told the Times. She said the crew gave passengers bottled water and extra cookies when the children got hungry.
“They are offering another free train ride for anybody who was on the train,” Sassone told the newspaper.