By Mikaela Porter and Christine Dempsey
The Hartford Courant
GREENWICH, N.Y. — A 21-year-old man who rail officials said was found aflame on top of a New York-bound train has died, a transit spokesman said.
Aaron Donovan, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman, said at 12:45 p.m. that he had minutes earlier received confirmation of the death of Brian McClellen of Ohio.
McClellen was being treated at the Westchester Medical Center. Earlier Monday he was listed in critical condition, said hospital spokesman David Billig. Billig couldn’t elaborate about the nature of the medical problem for which he was being treated, or how he came to be injured.
Friends and family members had posted messages of sympathy on McClellen’s Facebook page for hours Monday morning.
Meanwhile, the MTA is trying to figure out how the incident happened.
“The MTA Police Department is investigating why he was on top of the train and how he got there, and we will have updates as their investigation proceeds,” Donovan said.
McClellen, who is from Cleveland, had burns on 85 percent of his body, Donovan said. He said there is no indication that he “jumped” onto the train, as some reports have suggested.
MTA officials said McClellen was found on fire on top of a local train headed for New York City Sunday morning. Crews on board the 5:02 a.m. Stamford to Grand Central train noticed power had gone out and stopped at Riverside Station in Greenwich, a routine stop, to investigate the cause of the power outage, Donovan said.
Upon inspection of the arms that reach out from atop the train, crews found McClellen on fire, Donovan said.
Crews put the flames out with a fire extinguisher and McClellen was sent by ambulance to Westchester Medical Center for treatment.
The approximate 20 passengers aboard, a light load, according to Donovan, were given two options: if they intended to go to New York City, an express train from Stamford to the city stopped on the eastbound tracks to pick them up, or, if the passengers was headed to one of the local stops, could wait for the next hourly train.
The train in which McClellen was found was taken back to Stamford while the investigation continues.
All trains are running on time.