Two 29-year-old homeless people were hit by a train in Delray Beach, Florida, this week in what police believe to be a suicide pact. Brandon Weiner and Mary Ann Ortega are the fourth and fifth people to be killed by a train this week, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Police believe that the cases may all be suicides.
Videos by Rare
Tri-Rail, the group that operates the train line, is erecting signs, asking people to call the suicide-prevention hotline and even considering using drones to monitor the tracks.
RELATED: Texas teen broadcasts his own suicide — parents think he may have been pushed by a dare
The incident happened at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, and though the conductor saw the two, he wasn’t able to bring the train to a stop in time to spare their lives. A police spokesperson said that the conductor watched Weiner and Ortega “hug each other and lie down together as the train approached.”
Both individuals had run-ins with the law for vagrancy-related incidents. The couple was stopped by police last week and arrested for heroin possession after Weiner admitted that the bags of heroin the police discovered belonged to him. Ortega recently worked at a dog-grooming business where her co-workers praised her as a kind and loving person.
RELATED: Tragedy strikes a beloved bluegrass band after a double murder and suicide attempt
A World Atlas article from 2016 ranks Florida as 18th in the United States in suicides with 14.2 deaths per 100,000. Alaska, Montana and New Mexico leading the nation with over 20 deaths per 100,000.
You can find out more about the suicide prevention hotline here.