Man dies after being run over by train in Sabah

BEAUFORT: A man died after being hit by a train on KM1.5 of the Beaufort-Tanjung Aru line here at around 5.10am on Thursday (April 18).

The deceased was identified only as "Totoh" and believed to be in his 20s.

Beaufort police chief Deputy Supt Azmir Abd Razak said Totoh was of Filipino descent and resided in Kampung Bakalau here.

"We received a report from a member of the public, who witnessed the incident at around 5.10am.

"Initial investigations showed that the train departed from Beaufort to Tanjung Aru near Kota Kinabalu at about 5.02am, and was travelling at a speed of 35kph.

"The locomotion pilot saw an object sprawled on the tracks in the darkness, and thought it was just a pile of rubbish. 

"At a distance of 20m, it became clear to the driver that the object was a person.

"He activated the emergency brakes, causing the carriage to come to a grinding halt, but the vehicle still ran over the man.

"The victim's head was injured," he said.

DSP Azmir said the locomotive pilot had 11 years' experience operating trains.

The deceased was sent to Hospital Beaufort for a post-mortem.