Teen struck, killed by train in Columbia River Gorge

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) – A train struck and killed a 16-year-old girl walking by railroad tracks in the Columbia River Gorge.

BNSF Railway spokesman Gus Melonas told ( http://bit.ly/2t838Qb ) The Columbian the girl was walking Sunday around noon on the north side of the tracks, near a fishing camp on the Skamania County side of the river, about a mile west of the Bridge of the Gods.

The train operator blew the whistles and hit the emergency brake, but the teen was hit and killed.

BNSF railway police and the Skamania County Sheriff’s office were investigating the collision.

Melonas said nine people have been struck on BNSF lines in Washington this year.