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Orange Line Service Resuming After Person Killed By Train

By  Alex Parker  and Quinn Ford | May 17, 2013 5:03pm | Updated on May 17, 2013 8:08pm

 Orange Line trains are not running between the Roosevelt and 35th/Archer stops after a person was struck and killed by a train north of the Halsted Street station, CTA officials said.
Orange Line Death
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CHICAGO — Orange Line train service is resuming between the Roosevelt and 35th/Archer stops after a person was struck and killed by a train north of the Halsted Street station, CTA officials said.

Power had been turned off on the line, and the CTA set up bus shuttle service between the affected stops.

Fire officals confirmed a male was killed after becoming pinned beneath an inbound train around 4:30 p.m. The man, believed to be in his 40s, was walking along the tracks when he was hit, said Officer Amina Greer, a police spokeswoman.

CTA officials did not immediately have details surrounding the man's death.

The death happened on the tracks about 300 yards northeast of the Halsted Street station.

Alex Yen, who lives in the building across the street from where the train was stopped, said he heard the train's operator make an announcement after the man was hit.

"He said 'Calm down. Firefighters are coming,'" Yen recalled. "It wasn't a normal announcement.

Police blocked off a stretch of Archer Avenue as firefighters used a firetruck ladder to reach the train.

Yen said after the accident, passengers moved to the first two cars of the train, which were then detached so passengers could be taken to the Halsted Street station.

Residents watched and took photos of the train as fire crews worked for about two hours. Some onlookers said they were told the man was on the tracks when he was hit, while others said he was changing cars and fell.

Yen said he did not believe it was intentional.

"This is not a way to commit suicide," he said. "It's not making sense."

The affected train was moved off the tracks about 6:35 p.m., and normal service resumed at 6:53 p.m., CTA officials said.