WAREHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A Christmas-themed train ride in Wareham took a tragic turn when two people on the tracks were hit and killed Saturday evening.
Heartbroken family members identified the victims as Melissa Gaudette, 33, and the 36-year-old father of her three children, whose name has not been released.
Brendan Akusis, who knows the two victims, says he saw the police response but never imagined it was his friends who had been hit.
“It’s bad,” he said. “I just grieved. They are in a better place now.”
The Cape Cod Central Rail was about 30 minutes into a dress rehearsal for the Christmas-themed train with about 200 children and 150 adults on board when the crash happened.
Investigators say the conductor tried to stop the train and activated the emergency brake before impact.
“It appears this was accidental,” one official said. “Nothing suspicious.”
Passengers were stuck on the train for hours and say the teenagers working the holiday-themed train did a great job keeping the young kids distracted by reading them stories and singing songs.
The children were allegedly told that the train had run out of “magic fuel.”
Police say Gaudette and the 36-year-old man were trespassing on the tracks when they were struck.
The incident remains under investigation.
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