Crime & Safety
Cause of Death Released in Train Derailment Tragedy
Howard County police released the following cause of death of the two 19-year-olds who died in the train derailment.
Howard County police said the two 19-year-old women who died in a train derailment early Tuesday did so from compressional asphyxia, or death by the lack of oxygen.
The death has been ruled accidental, police said in a release sent out Thursday.
A did so after passing a few feet behind the two young women who were sitting on the edge of a bridge over Main Street, police said.
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Those two women, Elizabeth Conway Nass and Rose Mayr, both 19, of Ellicott City, died in the incident after they were "buried under the coal as it dumped from the train cars," Howard County police said.
Police said investigators located the bodies of teens “seated on the edge of a bridge over Main Street.”
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Safety officials said in a release the women were “sitting on the ledge facing east towards Baltimore County with their backs to the side of the train as it passed a few feet behind them.”
“For an unknown reason, the train derailed, causing open cars filled with coal to tip over,” according to the release.
Funeral services have been scheduled for the two women killed.
Two viewing services are scheduled Friday, Aug. 24 for at ; one from 3 - 5 p.m. and one from 7 - 9 p.m.
Mayr's funeral will be held at on Sat., Aug. 25 at 11 a.m.
A visitation is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 23 from 5 - 8 p.m. at . A memorial mass will be held at Ressurection on Friday, Aug. 24 at 11 a.m.
Both Ellicott City residents and 2010 graduates of , Mayr was studying at University of Delaware and lived in Newark, DE. Nass was a student at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.
Read more about the train derailment and victims:
- Danger on the Tracks: Ellicott City Debates a Longtime Practice
Kids and teens have been visiting tracks, including those in Ellicott City, for many generations. Did you ever visit any? Does this accident change your mind about whether you would ever go back? Tell us in the comments box below this article.
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- Ellicott City Train Derailment Victims Tweeted From Tracks Before Death
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