SOMERSET, England A schoolgirl died when she was struck by a train while walking across a level crossing where a footbridge was supposed to have been built 20 years ago.
Evie Wright, 15, went through a gate on the pedestrian path across the track in Worle, Somerset. A child who witnessed what happened described seeing Evie with her head down.
They told an inquest into her death that she ‘kept looking down at her phone, like she was checking the time’ before being struck by the train.
Evie Wright, 15, went through a gate on the pedestrian path across the track in Worle, Somerset The witness, who did not know Evie, said: ‘The train was quite far away, past the bridge, but I could see it getting bigger as it approached, so I stopped and waited. ‘The girl kept looking down at her phone, like she was checking the time.
‘I heard a loud crash as the gate opened and closed behind her, and she looked to be moving vigorously across the track. ‘She was on the track looking at her phone, and then she leaned forward as if to see the train.
‘I instinctively closed my eyes, and when I opened them about ten seconds later, I could see her lying face down on the track, and the train was stopped.’
Plans had been given permission for a pedestrian bridge to be built at the site 20 years ago Earlier that day Evie had messaged friends with a picture of a dress she was planning on wearing at a sleepover.
She was said to have ‘loved life’ and a coroner found no evidence that she intended on taking her own life.
The inquest heard that plans had been put forward for a pedestrian bridge to be installed near the site 20 years ago.
Her father Lee Wright was backed in his calls to request a footbridge by North Somerset Council.
Mr Wright said: ‘Whilst all this is going on in the background, children are trying to cross this crossing. Our daughter is not the first to die like this.
‘I am disappointed in the people responsible for this, and I would like to request something is done as soon as possible.’-Metro of UK
