Coroners office identifies Union Pacific maintenance worker
(The following story by Rong-Gong Lin II appeared on the Los Angeles Times website on April 4, 2010.)
LOS ANGELES A Union Pacific maintenance worker who was killed in a collision with a Metrolink train has been identified as Roberto Ramirez, 56, of Visalia.
Ramirez died of multiple traumatic injuries when the pickup truck he had been driving was struck by a Metrolink commuter train east of El Monte on March 20, said Lt. Brian Elias of the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
The coroner's office considers the death an accident. Metrolink officials had earlier said there was no evidence that the employee deliberately placed himself in the train's path.
The Metrolink tracks at the accident site run parallel to Union Pacific's freight tracks.
Ramirez was responsible for maintaining and inspecting the Union Pacific tracks at the site.
Officials have not disclosed why Ramirez was in the path of the Metrolink train.
