An aspiring model was struck and killed by a train in Texas on Friday, March 10 while posing for a photoshoot on the tracks that she hoped would help launch her career.
Authorities report that 19-year-old Fredzania ‘Zanie’ Thompson and her photographer were standing between two sets of tracks at a railway crossing taking photos at around noon.
According to reports, one set of the tracks belonged to BNSF and the other to Union Pacific, and the teenager was standing on the former, facing towards an oncoming BNSF train.
She then tried to cross the tracks in order to avoid it, but was struck by a Union Pacific train coming from the opposite direction on the other set of tracks.
Buzzfeed reports that Thompson was immediately rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Witnesses state that despite both trains blowing their horns, she did not see the oncoming train behind her.
‘This horrific incident is the reason they don’t want individuals and kids playing on rail tracks, because trains come intermittently and you don’t know when they come,’ Texas Director of Public Safety told Buzzfeed.
Thompson, who would have turned 20 on Monday, was also engaged to her 25-year-old boyfriend, who said the couple had recently found out they were expecting.
A funeral was held for Thompson last Saturday at Brosig Auditorium.