MIRACLE:

BETHESDA WOMAN

SURVIVES BEING HIT

BY TRAIN WITH NO

LIFE-THREATENING

INJURIES

Grinnell College Student Said to Have Attempted to

Outrace Iowa Freight Train

A miraculous ending to a dangerous act is being reported from near Des Moines Iowa tonight.

Anika Manzoor, a 20 year old Bethesda resident attending Grinnell College in Iowa, is reported to have tried to cross in front of an oncoming Iowa Interstate freight train Monday afternoon.

According to Tom Alex, reporter for the Des Moines Register, Manzoor's two friends made it across, but Manzoor slipped and fell in front of the train.

Unbelievably, she was swept aside by a snowplow attachment on the locomotive, and was transported to the University of Iowa hospital, where she remains with non-life-threatening injuries.

We don't yet know Manzoor's side of the story, so it is premature to pass judgement.

However, thankfully this is a good reminder for people about respecting the rules of railroad safety without a tragic ending.

Never walk on railroad tracks. Stop, look and listen before crossing tracks on foot or by car. Never try to "beat the train."

In this time when folks move near railroads and then complain that there are trains passing through (Garrett Park, Randolph Hills, Kensington - the B&O was there long before they were), the rules of coexisting with the railroads that keep America running are more relevant than ever.