The 36-year-old woman who was fatally hit by a freight train running across tracks in downtown Hinckley was with a friend who made it across just ahead of her, according to her family and authorities.
Erin K. Story, a mother of four, was identified by her brother as the woman who was hit by the train shortly after midnight Wednesday where the tracks cross Main Street E., just a few blocks east of her home.
Story's brother, Nathan Story, said his sister was heading back to her home and was with a man at the time she was hit by the southbound Canadian Pacific train.
The man made it across the tracks, but Erin Story did not, Pine County Sheriff Jeffrey Nelson said Thursday.
"Some bad decisions were made, and it was an accident," Nelson said.
Initial word from the Canadian Pacific is that the train was traveling within the speed limit for that stretch of track, that the crossing arms and signals were functioning properly and that "witnesses reported hearing the horn," the sheriff said.
Canadian Pacific spokesman Andy Cummings said the railway's police are investigating in conjunction with the Sheriff's Office. Cummings declined to say where the train was coming from or its destination. He also would not say what cargo was on the train.
Erin Story's children range in age from 5 to 20, and she was working at the Grand Casino Hinckley Hotel to support them, Nathan Story said.
