Crime & Safety

Bethlehem Man Struck and Killed by Train In Emmaus

David Schlaner and others were on tracks trying to remove cast iron pipe, police said.

A Bethlehem man was struck by a train and killed earlier today on the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks near the Pennsylvania Turnpike bridge in Emmaus, according to a statement issued by the Emmaus Police Department.

David Schlaner, 33, and others were on the tracks trying to move a cast iron pipe when Schlaner was hit by a train. Emmaus Police were called to the scene at about 11:24 a.m. 

Units were initially dispatched to the Seventh Street crossing in the Borough, but eventually were directed to an area of track along Chestnut Street near the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

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The Lehigh County Coroner's Office was called about 11:35 a.m., according to scanner transmissions. The death has been ruled accidental and as a result of multiple blunt force trauma, according to First Deputy Coroner Paul Hoffman.

The Emmaus Police Department was joined on the scene by the Emmaus Ambulance Corps, the Emmaus Fire Department, Lehigh County Coroner’s Office, Norfolk Southern Railroad personnel, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Vera Cruz Fire Department. 

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