MARIETTA, Ga. – Authorities have credited a freight train conductor with saving a man’s life outside Atlanta.
The CSX conductor was entering the city Friday with the mile-long train when he spotted someone laying on the tracks, Marietta police said. The person was a homeless man who had fallen and was unable to get up, police said.
“He (was) hypothermic and if struck by the swift moving train would surely have been killed instantly," police said in a statement on social media.
The conductor was able to stop the train before reaching the unidentified man, police said.
“CSX commends the swift actions our crew displayed in Marietta, GA," company spokeswoman Sheriee Bowman said in an email. “Railroad operations can be dangerous. Fortunately, no one was injured. This is an important reminder to stay away from railroad tracks."
Police, firefighters and paramedics carried the man from the scene and he was then taken to a hospital for treatment. Authorities did not say how far away the train was from the man when it stopped.
Marietta is a suburb of Atlanta just northwest of the city.
Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX operates a network of about 20,000 miles of railroad tracks in more than 20 states.