North Berwick police on Monday identified the man killed when he was hit by the Amtrak Downeaster on Saturday evening.

Christopher Sprague, 27, of North Berwick, had apparently walked up the tracks heading north out of town, where he was hit by the fast-moving train, said Chief Stephen Peasley. Police believe his death was a suicide.

The train had left the downtown area of North Berwick by the time the crash occurred, Peasley said.

Sprague was hit shortly before 7 p.m. by Downeaster train 695, which was heading north from Boston. None of the 105 passengers or the crew were injured.

Another crew was brought in to replace the workers who were on board when the accident happened.

The accident occurred 11 miles north of Dover, New Hampshire, on a section of track where there are no crossings and the maximum speed for the train is 60 mph.

The fatality was the second deadly incident with a train in North Berwick in the past two months. A North Berwick man was killed on July 23 when he stepped in front of a Downeaster train on the tracks near Town Pizza.


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