Macon train accident kills one

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A man is dead after a train hit him in Macon Tuesday afternoon.  It happened on the tracks off Arkwright Road around 2:30 p.m.

Coroners removed the body around 5:00 p.m.  The man was a few cars down from the train’s engine.

Investigators aren’t sure if it was an accident or a suicide.

“They’ll talk with the personnel that was on the train at the time to determine where his proximity was at the time,” says Lt. Randy Gonzalez with the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators have identified the man as 45-year-old Ronnie Franklin Morris of Griffin, Georgia.

There was a car abandoned in the woods about a mile down from the accident scene. Bibb Coroner Leon Jones said the victim’s license matched the vehicle’s registration. The car was removed from the scene.

Jones adds, there is no autopsy scheduled.  He wants to wait for the results of the investigation before determining the cause of death.

According to reports, the engineer of the Norfolk Southern train saw Morris walking on the tracks with his back to the train. The train’s horn was blown several times, but Morris continued walking down the tracks. The train tried to stop but could not before hitting Morris.