A 41-year-old woman and her dog died on Saturday after being hit by a freight train just east of Chinook.
The Blaine County Sheriff's Office received a call from BNSF of a train versus pedestrian accident at Lodge Creek around 5 p.m., at approximately the same that a man called to report his wife had been struck by a train. First responders arrived and found the woman and dog underneath the train.
The woman had gotten out of the vehicle to photograph a pheasant. She then took a dog she was training to smell the area where the pheasant had been. A news release from the Blaine County Sheriff's Office says she didn't see or hear the westbound train coming, as she walked with her dog on the train tracks along U.S. Highway 2. She and her dog were hit and killed upon impact.
The woman's body was removed from the train tracks by fire and ambulance crews and delivered to Wilderness Funeral Home.
The accident caused traffic delays along the highway for several hours. The scene was cleared around 10 p.m.
Responding agencies included the Blaine County Sheriff's Office, Blaine County Fire and Ambulance, Montana Highway Patrol, Chinook Police Department, and BNSF Police. The Blaine County Sheriff's Office and BNSF Police are investigating what happened.
The woman's identity has not yet been released. We will update you if we learn more.
This story was updated at 2 p.m. Sunday with more information from the Blaine County Sheriff's Office.
