Three dead on ‘tragic’ train tracks

THREE people have died after separate collisions with trains.

About 9.30pm on Friday, a female pedestrian was killed in a collision with a train in Hornby, near Christchurch.

The accident happened near the level crossing on Parker St, a police spokeswoman said.

Two other people were killed by a train in Auckland later the same night.

Police said a train struck two people, who appeared to also be pedestrians, at the Boundary Rd railway crossing in Papakura, South Auckland about 11pm.

While most residents in the area said they slept through the commotion, Dion Szabo – whose house overlooks the tracks – said he heard the train sounding its horn before the collision.

"There was this really odd, continuous honk that made me realise something wasn’t right," he said. "It’s all pretty tragic".