Police say woman wearing earbuds and eating when hit by Phoenix train

PHOENIX — An inattentive woman wearing earbuds and eating taquitos survived being run over by a train locomotive Thursday after ignoring its horn as well as bells and flashing lights at nearby crossing signals, Phoenix police said.

The woman was struck as she walked on BNSF Railway tracks near the intersection of three major streets, said Sgt. Trent Crump, a police spokesman.

The first of two engines hit her and she fell between the rails but escaped being crushed by the wheels, police said.

The woman was seriously injured and taken to a hospital, where methamphetamine was found in her possession, Crump said. Her identity was not released.

Police checked the locomotive’s horn and the crossing signals and determined they were working properly, the sergeant said.

“It appears that the inattention” of the woman while she walked on the tracks caused the crash, Crump said.

The locomotives were apparently moving under the speed limit for that section of the tracks, but the operator could not stop in time to avoid hitting the woman, Crump said.

She was struck by the pilot, a plow-shaped device attached to the front of the locomotive to deflect objects that could derail a train.

She lay in between the rails while the engines passed over her, Crump said.

“What a lucky day for this woman,” he said.