Police reviewing footage after commuter killed by GO train

Police are investigating the circumstances around the death of a GO Transit commuter who was killed after his backpack reportedly got hooked on to the back of a train at Union Station during rush hour Tuesday evening.

Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins told media that while police are carefully reviewing surveillance footage to determine exactly what happened, it appears to have been a tragic accident.“It was just the very last locomotive at the end that his backpack looks like it somehow got hooked on to it,” Aikins said.

The man was dragged by the Barrie-bound train for a short distance before the transit safety operators radioed the driver, who was unaware of the incident, to stop, she said. According to Aikins, GO Transit staff got to the victim, a 31-year-old Peel resident, within moments of the accident happening.

“They gave him CPR until EMS got there. Quite a number of staff were immediately in the area. So we do have lots of staff and they are always watching out but there is only so much you can do,” she said.

Police say they are treating the incident as a “death investigation” and are asking any witnesses who may have information to speak to investigators.In addition to the police probe, Aikins said Metrolinx will do its own internal investigation to look into the transit operator’s response to the incident.