(Biloxi, Mississippi – October 12, 2017)
A 39-year-old Biloxi, MS woman was killed by an eastbound CSX train as she tried to cross the railroad tracks near the Edgewater Shopping Mall in Biloxi Thursday morning about 9:40 A.M.
Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove said Shauna Lapen died of blunt force trauma after she was struck by one of the 10 CSX trains that pass through that corridor daily at maximum allowable speeds of 60 mph.
Biloxi and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have been plagued with motor vehicular and pedestrian/train collisions for quite some time. The most serious of which was in March of 2017 when a tour bus loaded with senior citizens became stuck on the CSX/Main Street crossing near downtown Biloxi, and was hit and dragged by another eastbound CSX freight train. That collision resulted in the deaths of four passengers and serious injuries to another forty passengers.