Railway Company Employee Killed In Unloading Incident

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A freight transportation company says one of its employees died Monday morning while unloading track material in northeast Minneapolis.

A spokesperson for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway said the employee was unloading the material when a train on another track struck the material, which then fell on the employee.

The employee, who has not been identified, suffered fatal injuries.

The spokesperson said BNSF officials and other authorities responded to the scene.

David Flugge, who lives across the street from the site of the accident, says he heard the incident -- a loud, metallic crash.

"I was upstairs with the kids -- took the day off -- heard a loud slam," he said. "Came outside and firetrucks everywhere."

Neighbors say they regularly see rail yard workers doing what appears to be maintenance work on trains, and most recently moving equipment.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office tells us they were called to the accident scene early this afternoon.