Alabama railroad operator says engineer didn’t see 3 homeless men killed by train

The engineer of a train that struck and killed three homeless men on the tracks in coastal Alabama says he never saw them and did not know he had hit them.

The Alabama Port Authority tells WALA-TV that a second engineer who had a different view of the tracks discovered the bodies more than six hours later on Tuesday and called Mobile police.

Two of the victims were found together, police said, while the body of the third was located nearly 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) away.

The single-track railway runs through a densely populated section of Mobile, connecting to port facilities.

Police said two of the men were 46 and 63 years old; their names have not been publicly released pending family notification.

Authorities have not yet been able to identify the third man.

Residents in the area said the three would regularly hang around the tracks.

Police believe they may have been asleep.

Police said the train sounded its horn before moving through the area and no criminal charges would be filed.