By Mike Schnitzel
Fermin Duran, 44, was walking along the tracks just west of the Rockville Centre Long Island Rail Road station at about 5:30 a.m. when he was struck and killed by an oncoming westbound train.
According to MTA Police, the train engineer said that Duran walked onto the tracks about 100 yards in front of the train, and despite repeated sounding of the horn and application of the emergency brakes, Duran did not attempt to get out of the way. The engineer told police that he was traveling about 55 miles per hour in a straightaway section of the track when Duran was struck.
"The victim was alone and made no effort to get out of the way and was subsequently struck by the train," said an MTA police statement.
According to MTA Detective Sgt. Peter Cummo, foul play was not involved.
"There is no indication that there was anything criminal about this incident," said Cummo. "A medical examiner will have to make a determination on the cause of death."
Cummo added that a medical examiner's report would probably take several months to complete, and that an investigation by MTA police was ongoing.
According to LIRR spokesman Sam Zambuto, the train involved in the accident was the 4:39 a.m. from Babylon, which was scheduled to arrive at Penn Station at 5:55 a.m.
"Service on the [Babylon] branch was suspended at about 5:50 a.m., and the train involved in the accident was two hours late," said Zambuto. The accident caused delays of up to 30 minutes in both directions. Zambuto said that limited service on one track was restored at 7:30 a.m., and service on both tracks was restored at 8:15 a.m., with residual 30-minute delays continuing until about 9:45 a.m.
Zambuto said that customers were advised to use alternate branches including the Main Line Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma branches, and the Long Beach, Hempstead, West Hempstead and Far Rockaway branches.
Comments about this story? MSchnitzel@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
