1 OF 2 MEN HIT BY TRAIN DIES FROM HIS INJURIES

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, March 27, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | B03

A 23-year-old borough man struck by a commuter train as he and a friend walked along the tracks has died, authorities said.

Cecilio Gonzalez of Wyckoff Avenue died at 1:54 a.m. Thursday, about seven hours after the accident, said Anne Marie Loughran, a Hackensack Medical Center spokeswoman.

Andre Barahona, 41, of Franklin Turnpike, whose left arm was broken when he also was hit by the NJ Transit train, was improving Thursday and was upgraded from critical to stable condition, said a spokesman for University Hospital in Newark.

Barahona was flown to the hospital by helicopter after the accident at 6:41 p.m. Wednesday about 300 yards north of the Wyckoff Avenue railroad overpass.

The men may have been drinking, and one was apparently listening to a radio because a headset was found at the scene, Waldwick Police Sgt. Brian Cotter said.

“According to the engineer, he sounded his horn but they didn’t move from the track,” Cotter said. “There was a bottle of vodka found embedded in the front of the train. It was in a plastic bag, attached to the front of the engine.”

An autopsy, which would determine whether Gonzalez was drinking, is pending, Cotter said.

One of the men was walking between the rails and the other was walking outside the rails when they were struck by the train, Cotter said. One of the victims told rescuers they were returning home from work, Cotter added.

The train was carrying 13 passengers and traveling about 40 mph at the time of the accident, said NJ Transit spokeswoman Kathleen Donohue. Waldwick was the final stop for the train, which left Hoboken with about 300 passengers, she said.

ID: 17372620 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)