(Emmaus, Pennsylvania – October 21, 2013)
A 41-year-old local resident died Monday afternoon at about 4:24 P.M. when he was hit and run over by a southwest-bound Norfolk Southern freight train as he crossed NS railroad tracks walking home from a trip to the Weis Markets Shopping Center in Emmaus, PA.
Mark Schwartz died of multiple traumatic injuries according to Lehigh County Coroner Scott M. Grimm, who also ruled the tragedy to be an accident, which did not occur at a railroad crossing.
According to Federal Railroad Administration records, a daily average of 33 trains pass through the rail corridor that runs behind the shopping area at a top timetable speed of 50 mph.