Yorkville man killed in Geneva train accident

A 49-year-old Yorkville man was struck and killed by a freight train in Geneva on Friday night.

Alerted to a train accident involving a pedestrian, Geneva Police and the Geneva Fire Department responded at around 8:53 p.m. May 5 to the Union Pacific-West railroad tracks at the Third Street crossing in downtown Geneva, officials said.

Police met with two men who rode with the Yorkville man on a Metra train that stopped in Geneva. Police located the Yorkville man near the tracks off Third Street. He was pronounced dead on the scene, police said.

The man's name has not been released.

The initial investigation indicated all three men exited the Metra train on the south side of the rail line. Police said their vehicle was parked on the north side of the train tracks.

While the emergency guardrail arms were down and the lights were flashing, police said, the three men went underneath the arms to cross the tracks. Two men made it across but the Yorkville man was hit by an eastbound freight train on the north track.

The freight train stopped and blocked the Third Street and Western Avenue crossings for more than two hours because of the emergency response.

The Geneva Police Department and the Kane County coroner's office were still investigating the accident on Saturday. An autopsy has been schedule for Monday, May 8.