One man was killed and a 16-year-old boy was severely injured when the two were struck on a New England Central Railroad bridge near White River Junction by Amtrak’s Vermonter train late Friday morning, Nov. 27.
In a press release, Town of Hartford police identified the dead man as Nicolas Siciliano, 18, of Windsor. The other victim has been identified as Aaron Simoneau, 16, also of Windsor.
The train, on its way from St. Albans to Washington, D.C., was crossing the bridge over the White River, about five miles north of White River Junction, at 11:16 a.m. when it struck the two individuals.
Simoneau was rescued at 11:45 a.m. from the middle of the bridge and subsequently taken by helicopter to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, according to press reports. As of late Friday night, he was in critical condition. A Facebook post by his mother, April Simoneau, stated that he was in an induced coma and “fighting for his life.” Dartmouth-Hitchcock spokesman Mike Barwell said Sunday morning that he was not authorized to release any information on Simoneau’s status.
Rescuers found Siciliano submerged in the river downstream from the bridge, according to a Vermont Standard report. Emergency personnel administered CPR immediately, and he was then taken by ambulance to Dartmouth-Hitchcock, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The train came to a halt at the south end of the structure. According to sources, Siciliano and Simoneau had walked halfway across the 650-foot-long bridge, about 60 feet above the river, when the accident took place. The passenger-train speed limit in the area is believed to be 59 mph.
No one was injured on the train, which resumed its southbound journey at 2:05 p.m., according to Amtrak.
A Valley News story reported that the pair had decided to walk across the bridge because they were intrigued by a legend, according to which the bridge was haunted by a child whose life was one of more than 30 lost in an 1887 train wreck on the same bridge.
The railroad tracks in question are owned by the New England Central’s parent company, Genesee and Wyoming, and are off limits to the public, as the police press release made a point of noting.
Nationwide, 501 trespassers were killed on railroads in 2014, according to Operation Lifesaver, a national railroad-safety organization. In 2013 and 2014, the group’s statistics state, more than half of all the casualties among railroad trespassers were fatalities. Trespassers use railroad rights-of-way for activities as diverse as jogging and snowmobiling.
