Woman survives being hit by train

Woman survives being hit by train

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By Tom Adams and News Services

JUNCTION CITY, Ore. -  A Lane County Sheriff's deputy says a woman is lucky to be alive after she was struck by a freight train in Junction City Saturday night.

Police say the unidentified woman suffered a deep laceration to the back of her head.

Officials say a Union Pacific train was rolling at under 25 mph when engineers saw a woman laying by the tracks, with her head resting on the rail. Police say they have no idea why she was laying that close to the tracks.

Police said she did not respond to the train horn, and alcohol use by the victim appears to be a factor.

Authorities say this happened on 16th Avenue where it dead ends into the tracks.

"You've got a large train and a lot of weight. Even at a slow speed it takes a while to stop," said Deputy Paul Vitus. "They stopped fairly quickly but it wasn't in time. There's not much they could do about it."

Deputy Vitus says the woman was taken to RiverBend Hospital and was in critical condition at last check.

Junction City officials say they are still trying to determine the woman's name.  She had no identification on her.

She was described as a white female between 40 and 45 years old, 130 to 140 pounds and 5 feet 5 inches tall. She has brown eyes, brown hair and a small tattoo of the words "far out" on her left hand.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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