CP train and car collide killing man near Sicamous, B.C.
Police say 62-year-old victim may havbe been trying to remove vehicle stuck on tracks
A 62-year-old man is dead after being struck by a Canadian Pacific train in Malakwa near Sicamous B.C.
The victim is a resident of the town, which is located north-west of Sicamous on Highway 1.
Police say the man had been in a car with a female relative and a female friend around 9 p.m. PT Saturday when the vehicle got stuck on the tracks that run right through Malakwa.
Investigators say all three occupants got out of the car before a westbound CP train struck it. However, the 62-year-old man was still struck and killed.
"We suspect the car was on the tracks before the barricades came down," said Constable Patrick Pyper with Sicamous RCMP.
"The occupants were probably in the process of trying to get the car off and that may have contributed to the incident."
The British Columbia Coroners Service is now investigating along with CP Rail and the police.
"We're talking to the driver and the passengers and we're trying to locate witnesses to see what actually happened and to find out how this car got onto the railway tracks," said Pyper.
with files from the CBC's Stephanie Mercier.