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Ventura Man Struck and Killed by Train : Safety: Authorities say the accident is an apparent suicide and that the 28-year-old victim was seated on the tracks.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

A 28-year-old Ventura man was struck and killed Monday by an Amtrak train in an apparent suicide, police said.

Jose Luis Capilla-Vasquez, 28, was seated on the tracks east of San Jon Road in Ventura shortly after 11 a.m., his head between his knees and his hands wrapped tightly over his head as the northbound train approached, authorities said.

After spotting Capilla-Vasquez, the engineer sounded the train whistle, but the man made no attempt to get out of the engine’s path, police said.

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The train was not able to stop before hitting Capilla-Vasquez, who was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

The train, which was en route to Santa Barbara, was delayed about one hour after the 11:18 a.m. accident.

Monday’s incident is the latest in a number of train-related deaths in Ventura County within the past two years.

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In May, a Simi Valley man was struck and killed by a Metrolink train while trying to rescue his dog, who had strayed onto the tracks.

In an apparent suicide on Christmas Eve in 1992, a Simi Valley man was dragged to his death after he threw himself in the path of a Metrolink train.

Two weeks before that, three Oxnard men were killed and a fourth badly injured when an Amtrak train slammed into their van as it crossed a private, unguarded stretch of track near Moorpark.

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