Pedestrian killed by train in Kent identified by medical examiner

Published 11:34 am Wednesday, March 1, 2023

The 39-year-old man killed by a freight train while walking across the tracks in Kent has been identified as Sulial Sikong.

Sikong died from multiple blunt force injuries, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, which ruled the death an accident.

Kent Police officers responded at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 to the BNSF Railway tracks underneath the State Route 167 BNSF overpass after a 911 call about a train hitting a pedestrian, according to police. Officers and Puget Sound Fire personnel found Sikong deceased just north of the South 228th Street overpass.

BNSF staff told police they saw a man on the tracks and immediately attempted to stop the train but were unable to stop it before striking him.

Sikong is the 19th pedestrian killed by trains in Kent from 2019 to 2023, according to the state Utilities and Transportation Commission.