Train crew saw woman lying on tracks before fatal collision

The crew of a northbound Alaska Railroad freight train saw something between the rails from about a quarter-mile away Tuesday evening as the train passed a crossing at C Street.

They hit the horn and applied the brakes, railroad spokesman Tim Sullivan said.

"When they were just a few yards out, it was apparent it was somebody laying down on the tracks, and she sat up," Sullivan said.

The woman died immediately.

The Anchorage Police Department on Friday morning identified her as 23-year-old Skyler Luke, who lived in Anchorage.

The accident took place on the tracks between C Street and Arctic Boulevard near the Dowling Road overpass. There was no indication anyone else was in the area, Sullivan said.

The train was headed to Anchorage from Whittier and going 34 mph at the time of the collision.

Luke's death is the third train-related fatality in two years in Alaska.