Yesterday we posted an article about a rairoad fatality in Manville, NJ. (see below) This is a follow-up article that was posted on the web site mycentraljersey.com on 5-9-08.
May 9, 2008
Victim of Manville train accident Thursday was high school student
By MARTIN C. BRICKETTO
STAFF WRITER
The person struck and killed by a freight train Thursday afternoon has been identified as 19-year-old Kevin Seit, a student at Manville High School, police said.
Seit was in his senior year at the school, according to borough Police Chief Mark Peltack, who said the circumstances surrounding Seit's death remain under investigation.
The loss of the student comes a little more than a week before the high school's prom and less than two months before graduation.
In a letter dated Friday and posted on the school district's Web site, Principal Mary E. McLoughlin said, "On Thursday afternoon, the Manville community experienced the sudden death of one of its students.''
"We are deeply saddened by this loss of life and have our Crisis Management procedures in place to help your children with their reactions to this tragedy,''
McLoughlin said in the letter.
At about 2:50 p.m. Thursday, a westbound Norfolk Southern freight train struck an individual who was trespassing on the railroad track, according to Rudy Husband, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern.
Husband was unable to provide additional information on Friday regarding why the individual might have been in the area, referring questions to local police.
In her letter, McLoughlin noted other community resources available to parents such as the Richard Hall Community Health Center in Bridgewater and the Somerset County Psychiatric Emergency Screening Services at Somerset Medical Center in Somerville. Names and phone numbers were also offered from district personnel.