AUBURN, Wash. - Police say a man who was fatally struck by train on Wednesday was talking on his cell phone while walking along the tracks.

The man, who has not been identified, was hit just before noon near the 1200 block of 'C' Street Northwest.

Investigators said the train was going about 80 miles per hour and sounded its horn to warn the man.

The man apparently did not hear the train and, despite applying its emergency brake, the train could not stop in time.

"I guess the conductor saw him talking on the phone and had the whistles going," said passenger Diane Hoffman. "But with the train coming in the different direction, and the vibrations and all I guess he thought it was coming the other way. And I can't understand how that could happen."

The passengers of the train had to wait on the tracks for hours while Auburn police investigated the crash.

"It's looking at about 300 yards from where the impact was to where the body was found. But it's probably another two miles down the tracks before the train was able to actually stop," said police spokesman Scott Near.

On April 21, a 17-year-old girl was struck and killed by a train in Kent while she was walking along the tracks.

Police investigating that death said Angie Rodriguez was talking on her cell phone when she was hit.