Oriole Park woman is killed in train accident in Edgebrook
November 11, 2008
By ALAN SCHMIDT aschmidt@pioneerlocal.com
A 48-year-old
woman was struck and killed by an Amtrak train at the Edgebrook
Metra stop Nov. 8 when she crossed the tracks to get
to another train.
The victim was
identified as Joyce Chiriboga, of the 7700 block of
West Rascher Avenue. The mishap occurred just before
7 p.m. at 6401 N. Lehigh Ave.
An autopsy was
conducted Sunday afternoon. A representative of the Cook County Medical
Examiner's Office, said the cause of death was
determined to be multiple injuries due to a train striking a pedestrian. Her
death was classified as accidental.
Police said Chiriboga was walking east across the tracks in the
pedestrian walkway, which cuts between the inbound and outbound platforms. She
was trying to get to a Metra train that was headed
toward the northern suburbs.
Witnesses
reported to police that Chiriboga did not see the
oncoming Amtrak train, which was approaching from the north on the westernmost
track. Train No. 340, traveling the Hiawatha route between Milwaukee and
Chicago, was on its way downtown non-stop after pulling out of the Glenview
station.
Chiriboga was dead on the scene. A funeral Mass was scheduled for
Wednesday at St. Tarcissus Catholic Church, 6020 W.
Ardmore Ave., Chicago.
This is the
second time a person was struck by an Amtrak train since September. Hirouyki Joho, 18, of the 6900 block of North Algonquin
Avenue, was killed there Sept. 13 while crossing in the pedestrian walkway. A
wrongful death suit filed by his mother, that names Amtrak and Metra as defendants, is pending in United States District
Court.
The Joho
complaint alleges that Amtrak was negligent because "it failed to operate
its train at a safe and reasonable speed," failed to adequately warn
pedestrians of "the train's impending approach," and "failed to
keep a proper lookout" for people crossing the tracks. Metra,
according to the complaint, was negligent for failing "to provide any
warning or notice of the likelihood of Amtrak trains approaching and passing
through commuter boarding stations at high unabated speeds" failing to
require Amtrak to "provide adequate warning," and allowing the
"unreasonably and hazardous" conditions to exist.
According to Metra's answer to the complaint, filed Nov. 5 in federal
court, the train horn was sounding as the Amtrak train approached the Edgebrook stop and Joho "was trying to beat the train
by crossing in front of it." Amtrak's response asks the judge to dismiss
the complaint, in part based on the "decedent's contribuatory
negligence."
A settlement
conference in that case is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2009.