Mounties say a Metro Vancouver teenager who was struck and killed by a train over the weekend probably never heard it coming.
Tiffany Williams, a 16-year-old from Maple Ridge, was hit while walking along the railway tracks near 203 Street on Sunday afternoon. She died at the scene.
On Monday, the RCMP revealed Williams was wearing headphones, listening to music, and texting on her phone when her life came to an early end.
“It appears she did not realize there was an approaching train,” Cpl. Alanna Dunlop said in a statement. “Despite all the efforts to catch the teen’s attention and stop the train, it struck and killed [her].”
The tragedy stunned Williams’s classmates and left her family heartbroken.
Her grieving mother posted a Facebook message Sunday encouraging fellow parents to hug their children because they “might not get the chance again.”
At Williams’s Maple Ridge school, grief counsellors were called in Monday to help students and staff cope with the terrible news.
Student Rochelle Croswell remembered the deceased as a kind, friendly person.
“She always had a smile on her face and always wanted to play with everybody. She always wanted to be a part of everybody’s group,” Croswell said.
In light of Sunday’s accident, Mounties reminded the public that railway tracks are private property, and urged people to exercise caution whenever on or near them.
The B.C. Coroners Service has taken conduct of the investigation into Williams’s death. They will be assisted by Ridge Meadows RCMP and the Canadian Pacific Police Service.
