The Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office, on Monday, May 18, identified Stephen Mitchell, 61, as the man killed after a BART train hit him. According to accident reports, the accident happened at Walnut Creek station, California.
The train hit Mitchell on Saturday, May 16, at about 2:40 p.m. When paramedics arrived at the scene of the crash, they pronounced him dead.
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Mitchell’s death caused an interruption in the services at the Antioch line for over two hours. It also resulted in the closure of tracks between the Lafayette and Pleasant Hill stations. The situation remained so until around 4 p.m. when BART permitted trains to go through on a single track. It wasn’t until after 5 p.m. that both tracks were allowed to open.
The BART said that Mitchell intentionally got onto the tracks, hinting that his death was suicidal rather than accidental.
Many factors can lead to train accidents. Some of these factors include train derailments, train-vehicle collisions, train-train collisions, accidents at railroad crossings, and pedestrians walking onto train tracks.
Causes of train accidents include mechanical failure, poor maintenance of train tracks, and track obstructions. Other causes include human mistake or negligence, distracted drivers, unmarked or unprotected railroad crossings, stalled cars on trails, or suicide.
The rate of suicide cases is on the increase, with many accident reports emanating daily of people taking their own lives. Untreated depression is the number one cause of suicide. However, it is treatable. Anyone in need of help can place a distress call to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or 1-800-SUICIDE.
Disclaimer: The Safety Watch article you just read includes information obtained from numerous sources. These sources include, but are not limited to, websites and press releases from law enforcement, the county coroner, fire departments, and other news outlets. While we strive to provide readers with the most accurate information, sometimes the information received is not entirely accurate. For complete details, please refer to an official police report.
The articles published contain sensitive subject matter that may be hard to read by some. We understand that losing a loved one is hard and devastating. Safety Watch’s decision to share the stories is to help others who may be facing the same situations by providing appropriate resources to the general public.