A northbound train appears to have struck the victims around 8:20 p.m. over a bridge structure on Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, a company spokesperson said. The spokesperson said no crew injuries were reported.
The Fairfax County Parks Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident at the park, a popular, 476-acre recreational outlet maintained by the county that’s fitted with pedal boats, hiking trails and a carousel.
Federal officials said the incident was a profound tragedy of a type that occurs much too frequently. Last year, 718 people who weren’t authorized to be on railroad property were killed, according to a nationwide count of “trespasser deaths” maintained by the Federal Railroad Administration.
“As tragic as a triple fatality event is, we’re not investigating it,” said Warren Flatau, an FRA spokesman.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was monitoring the situation but has also not launched an investigation. Generally, local authorities probe the circumstances and railroads report their own findings to federal officials.
Trespassing deaths are up in recent years, rising 24 percent from 2021 to 2023, according to the FRA. The agency cited increases in exposure, as growing development along the tracks leads more people to make their way onto railroad property. Those fatality increases have come despite ongoing efforts at public education, engineering fixes such as adding fencing in limited locations, and enforcement by local authorities and the railroad police, according to the FRA.
“It’s so ubiquitous,” Flatau said. “It’s people from all different walks of life. You’ve got people who are jogging on tracks with earplugs on or walking their dogs or shortcutting.”
Flatau said the agency doesn’t have data indicating that the site of the Fairfax tragedy has been a problem location. Police said they are investigating the circumstances that led to the crash.
This is a developing story and will be updated.