ST. LOUIS – A man died Saturday evening after being struck by a train in south St. Louis.

According to a spokesperson for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the incident took place around 7:30 p.m. in the 7900 block of Michigan Avenue, in the city’s Patch neighborhood.

Officers arrived to find an adult male underneath the stopped train. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the train engineer told investigators he saw what he believed to be a pile of trash and clothes on the railroad track. As the train got closer, the engineer realized it was a person. The engineer said he activated the emergency brake but the train did not stop in time and struck the man.

The St. Louis Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene and took custody of the body. The man’s identity has not been released.