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Man hit by train, dies trying to rescue crash victim

SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A man lost his life trying to rescue a trapped driver after a crash Tuesday afternoon.

Witnesses told Channel 2's Tom Jones that a minivan went off Roosevelt Highway, over a guardrail and down an embankment before stopping near train tracks. It is unclear why the driver left the road.

Bystanders tried to help the driver out of the minivan but were forced to leave because of an oncoming train, Fulton County police said. Truck driver Jeff Jones said a man who was trying to help slipped and fell as a train came barreling toward him.

"It was awful," Jones said.

The man lost both his legs and later died. Fulton County police identified him as 48-year-old DeKai Armonrassi.

"The train came out of nowhere," witness Briana Bell said.

Bell was driving behind the minivan when it left the road. She said she tried to comfort Armonrassi after he lost his legs.

"I just said a prayer with him and kept talking to him and told him he wasn't going to go nowhere because he was trying to help someone else, and he was going to be OK," Bell told Channel 2's Tom Jones.

Emergency crews eventually cut the driver out of the van. Family members identified him as 83-year-old Herber Sinkfield. He was hospitalized in stable condition.

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