A Spokane man has been identified as the man killed by a train in Pasco on Thursday.
Ricky Mash, 39, was found dead about 8:30 p.m. along the railroad tracks near the Amtrak station in Pasco, said Franklin County Coroner Dan Blasdel.
A West Richland pastor bought an Amtrak ticket for Mash, but it wasn't clear if the ticket was for Mash to come to Pasco or to return to Spokane.
Tests will be done to see if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the accident, Blasdel said.
Pasco police on Thursday said it appeared Mash had been dead for a couple of hours.
BNSF Railway Co. spokesman Gus Melonas told The Associated Press that Mash was apparently sideswiped by a freight train pulling into the Pasco rail yard.
Mash's body was found about 100 yards from the Amtrak depot and several tracks beyond the Amtrak line.
The death investigation closed the tracks and slightly delayed an Amtrak train and a BNSF coal train.
Melonas says there have been more than 20 train fatalities this year in Washington, compared with an average of 16 a year the past two decades, the AP reported.
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