An Amtrak Downeaster train headed south from Brunswick to Boston on Wednesday night struck and killed a person on railroad tracks in Durham, New Hampshire.

Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, confirmed late Wednesday night that Train 688 struck a person around 8:30 p.m. at the Bennett Road railroad overpass in Durham.

Quinn was unable to provide more details about the incident and could not confirm that the person was killed, but Foster’s Daily Democrat in Dover, New Hampshire, posted a story on its website that said the victim was apparently lying on the train tracks between Bennett Way and Mill Road in Durham.

The newspaper said the person was killed and said the state medical examiner had been called.

The Downeaster had struck and killed four people since March, before Wednesday’s accident. Two of the fatalities occurred in North Berwick, one was in South Portland and the fourth was in Biddeford.

Officials determined that the North Berwick and Biddeford fatalities were suicides while the South Portland fatality was ruled accidental by Maine’s Medical Examiner’s Office.

“It is heartbreaking for everyone,” Quinn said.

“It’s devastating to the train crew. It has been happening so often that it has become part of their job.”

Wednesday night’s incident was expected to cause significant delays, lasting as long as two hours, for southbound and northbound passengers, Quinn said.

Quinn said that Train 688 was bound for Boston, where it was scheduled to pick up passengers, including many Mainers who had been at a Boston Red Sox game, before returning to Maine.

Its scheduled departure time from Boston was originally 11:20 p.m. Wednesday.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

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