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A 24-year-old resident was killed late Wednesday after he was struck by a commuter train near the DuPage River.
Police said John K. Balcaitis, of the 1400 block of Sunnybrook Drive, was apparently carrying a bicycle across the Burlington Northern railroad tracks at 11:11 p.m. when he was struck by an eastbound train traveling from Aurora to Chicago at about 65 m.p.h. Balcaitis was thrown from the tracks to a bank near the river, where he was found by paramedics, police said.
Balcaitis was taken to Edward Hospital in Naperville, where he was pronounced dead.
The train’s engineer told police he saw Balcaitis in front of the train and sounded the train’s whistle repeatedly, but Balcaitis apparently did not hear.