Woman Killed By BART Train at San Leandro Station

A woman was struck and killed by a train at BART's San Leandro station Thursday morning, transit agency police said.

The incident was reported at about 9:30 a.m. and shut down train service between the Fruitvale and Bay Fair stations, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said shortly after 10 a.m.

Trost initially said the person killed was a child, but BART police later said it was a woman in her 30s. She said the woman ended up underneath a train headed from Fremont toward Daly City.

Witnesses told NBC Bay Area's Jodi Hernandez they saw a petite woman looking at the tracks as if she had dropped something. They say when she stepped on the traps the BART train operator attempted to slow down but couldn’t stop in town.

The train was going about 15 mph when it struck the minor, according to one witness.

The platform was full of people.

Initial reports stated a child had been killed, but Trost later advised reporters to "characterize this person killed as a minor, not a child." BART police said late Thursday morning the person killed was an adult female who appeared to have committed suicide.

Two stations were shut down: San Leando and Oakland Coliseum. Service resumed at the Coliseum station by about 11 a.m. The San Leandro station reopened by about 11:45 a.m.

Major BART delays persisted because of the long shutdown.

NBC Bay Area's Jodi Hernandez and Bay City News contributed to this report.

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