Dorchester man killed in Merchants Way train accident
Jun 8, 2023
Police search the waters where a man was found unresponsive and later died. Photos by: Rusty Gorelick
A stopped train and fire truck near the scene.
The stopped train on Sandwich Road.
A Wareham Fire Department engine on the scene.
The man was taken to Tobey Hospital, which can be seen in the background.
A wet piece of clothing near where the man was found.
A Dorchester man was hit by a train and killed while fishing on the Narrows railroad bridge on Thursday, June 8.
According to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, 56-year-old Christopher Cater fell into the Agawam River after being hit. The train was moving at 25 miles per hour.
Multiple people came to Cater’s rescue. When he was taken out of the water, he was unresponsive, according to officers who were at the scene.
Asa Irish, who was working at a nearby construction site, said he and a coworker pulled Cater out of the water. Irish said he saw the train stop and a woman in Besse Park point while yelling, “He’s in the water!”
Cater was taken to Tobey Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The intersection of Main Street and Sandwich Road was closed to pedestrian traffic as first responders arrived on the scene of the accident.
The train stopped, and the conductor and engineer remained on the scene.
In a press release about the incident, the District Attorney’s Office states that all railroad crossing barriers were working properly and that the train sounded its horn multiple times as it approached Cater.
Bharat Valsadiya, who works at the Jug Shop on Main Street, said that he saw Cater sitting on a bench on Merchants Way at around 9 a.m. Thursday. Valsadiya said he witnessed police officers speak to Cater that morning.
Valsadiya added that the man left two bags beside the bench.
