OXNARD : Man Dies on Train Tracks; Wife Spared

An Oxnard man was killed when an Amtrak passenger train struck him Thursday night as he and his wife walked on a trestle across Oxnard Boulevard, authorities said.

The 40-year-old man, whose name was withheld, was pronounced dead shortly after the 6:45 p.m. accident.

His wife, Patricia Zajkowski, was injured as she dove out of the path of the train onto rocks, police said. She was transported to St. John’s Regional Medical Center where a supervising nurse said she was treated and was expected to be released Thursday night.

Zajkowski told police that she and her husband saw the train coming but were not able to get out of the way, Lt. Robert Kelly said.

The trestle was narrow enough that a person would have to lie down at the side of the tracks to avoid being hit by a train, Oxnard Police Officer Cliff Troy said.

Zajkowski told officers that a gust of wind from the oncoming train had blown her to the side, possibly saving her life, Troy said.

When Troy arrived at the scene, he said, the injured woman “was hysterical and trying to comfort and hug” her husband’s body. He said paramedics had to pull her away.

The southbound train that struck the couple stopped near Vineyard Avenue while the engineer contacted authorities.