Train in Virginia strikes two people on bridge, kills one

LYNCHBURG, Va., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- A train in Virginia struck two people on a trestle Saturday afternoon, killing one and severely injuring the other. Officials said it wasn't clear why or how the two climbed onto the bridge, which crosses the James River at Riverside Park near Lynchburg.

The train struck and killed Jonathan Gregoire, a 21-year-old man from Wilbraham, Massachusetts. His companion on the bridge, 21-year-old Victoria Bridges, of Newport News, apparently jumped from the bridge to avoid the oncoming locomotive. She survived the 100-foot fall.

Bridges was airlifted to Lynchburg General Hospital, police confirmed; she suffered non-life threatening injuries and was responsive and talking to friends and family members in the hospital on Sunday.

Some reports suggested there were as many as four to six young people on the bridge prior the train's crossing, but that all but two were able to get off the tracks in time. Police would not confirm such accounts.

The victim's last post to Instagram showed the young man soaking in the view from the same bridge he was killed on less than a week later.

"Here, I stand on the edge of the ledges I've made, looking for a steady hand. Here, I stand in the land of the rocks in the valley, trying to be a better man." #adventuretillwedie #adVAntures #socality #liveauthentic #wanderfolk

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A photo posted by Jon Gregoire (@jondavidgregoire) on Nov 11, 2014 at 1:49pm PST

In the aftermath of the accident, locomotive operator Norfolk Southern was contacted and asked to have the train halted.

"We constantly try to raise awareness that it is illegal and dangerous," Norfolk Southern railroad spokesman Robin Chapman said in an interview with ABC News.

"It is illegal and if they are lucky enough to survive they could be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor," Chapman added. "You can put up higher fences, more signs, but if someone is determined to get over they will."