A man has died after being crushed under a train carrying cane to a sugar mill in north Queensland, just days after a Sydney woman was killed by a train.
Emergency crews were called to Brewers Road, Sarina, 930km north of Brisbane, on Thursday afternoon after reports of a collision with a pedestrian.
A spokeswoman for Wilmar Sugar and Renewables confirmed there had been a fatal incident on a rail bridge ‘involving one of our locomotives late this afternoon’.
The train came into contact with the man on Plane Creek Bridge, she told the Daily Mercury.
‘We are providing our driver with every possible support,’ the spokeswoman said.
Police, fire and ambulance crews rushed to the scene after Wilmar workers called in the emergency just after 5pm.
The emergency responders were unable to save the man.
Crews reportedly worked for hours to retrieve his body.
Senior Sergeant Trevor Robson said the man was initially unable to be identified.
‘This afternoon an unknown male at this stage has gone under a fully loaded cane train and as a result has lost his life,’ Snr Sgt Robson told reporters on Thursday night.
The police believe there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson confirmed that fire crews were called to the accident at about 5.15pm by the rail line operator.
The firefighters left the scene at around 8.10pm, though the police were still in attendance.
All overnight cane trains on the line were stopped.
The death in Sarina was the second train fatality this week, after a woman in Punchbowl in Sydney’s south-west was struck down on Tuesday afternoon.
The woman, aged in her 50s, had climbed down onto the track to retrieve something she had dropped and was unable to get back onto the platform.
Emergency services rushed to the station and Fire and Rescue NSW crews worked to free the woman from beneath the train.
She was immediately transferred to an ambulance before being taken to St George Hospital, but tragically died on Wednesday morning.
Police spoke with witnesses at the scene and reviewed CCTV as part of their inquiries.
The train driver returned a negative breath test.