Two men have died after being struck by a city-bound train at Altona Meadows on Thursday night.
Police have established a crime scene near the corner of Merton Street and Railway Avenue, adjacent to the Victorian Baseball and Softball Centre.
Detectives are investigating why the men were on the tracks before being hit by the train at 11.45pm and admit they are puzzled at how they would not have seen or heard the train.
They said the spot is in the clear, with plenty of visibility and the train driver saw the men before he hit them, slamming on his emergency brakes.
Inspector John Kearney told the ABC the train driver spotted the men but was unable to stop.
“He’s getting looked after,” he said.
“We do know that he applied his emergency brakes and attempted to avoid the collision but unfortunately he was unable to.
Transit Sergeant Alistair Boyd said police were still investigating why the men were on the tracks but said there was no indication of criminality.
“In this case, it’s a definite tragedy,” he said.
A resident opposite the fatal scene said the two men had parked their car outside his house before going on to the tracks.
Paul Bekesi said graffiti was rampant around the freeway bridge near where the deaths occurred.
“I’ve seen [people] actually go up there and they’re wearing dark clothes and all of the sudden you turn around and you can’t see anything anymore.
“It’s a pretty sad sort of thing to see what happened.
“Two young people, it’s a waste of life.
“They had their car parked outside my house, it was some sort of black Ford sports car.
“They must have had their backs to the train on the track because if the train was coming towards them they would have seen it.
“The train wasn’t up to full speed. It was just leaving the Laverton station to go in to the town.”
The car, believed to belong to one of the men, was towed by police from Linden Street on Friday morning.
Anyone with any information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
