Sound Transit light-rail train kills man on tracks in Seattle

A man who police say jumped in front of a Sound Transit light-rail train shortly before midnight Monday has become the first fatality on the light-rail line since service began less than two weeks ago.

The victim, identified only as an adult male, was struck along a transit corridor between Fourth Avenue South and Sixth Avenue South a few blocks south of Safeco Field. Police spokeswoman Renee Witt said early information from traffic-collision investigators indicates that as the southbound train approached, the man — for unknown reasons — climbed over a concrete barrier south of South Holgate Street and "jumped into the path of the train."

Witt stopped short of calling the incident a suicide, saying that determination would have to be made by the King County Medical Examiner's Office, which is investigating.

The victim, who went under the train, was pronounced dead at the scene by Fire Department medics.

Police spokesman Jeff Kappel said none of the other passengers on the light-rail train saw the incident. They were taken away by bus.

Kappel said there are no crosswalks in the "non-pedestrian" area where the incident occurred, which has a Metro bus lane and the Sound Transit tracks. A low concrete barrier, in some areas topped by a chain-link fence, runs alongside the tracks.

Sound Transit opened the light-rail line between downtown Seattle and Tukwila July 18.