An award-winning jazz musician has been tragically killed after being hit by two trains within minutes of each other after his car got stuck on a railroad.
Andrew Speight, 58, drove his car onto the railroad tracks near Caltrain Broadway Station in Burlingame, California, just before 1:40 PM on Thursday, and he was unable to remove his vehicle, per the Daily Mail.
Speight - who was born in Sydney but moved to the US to teach music- was a skilled saxophonist and taught at Michigan State University and San Francisco State University.
In 1999, the musician won an Aria award - Australia's equivalent to the Grammys - for an album he created with the Andrew Speight Quartet.
Speight was stuck in his vehicle when a high-speed southbound train hit, closely followed by a northbound train on the twin tracks.
The Daily Mail reports that his car was "completely crumpled" on the tracks and that the musician died after the first collision.
The 58-year-old had driven onto the tracks shortly after leaving Broadway Station's parking lot, according to a Caltrain representative.
Emergency services quickly attended the scene but pronounced Speight dead on arrival. Tributes have since poured in for the talented musician.
Speaking to NBC News, Simon Rowe - the owner of San Francisco-based Keys Jazz Bistro which has hosted several free music nights in the musician's memory - explained how he knew Speight when he was growing up.
He said: "Andrew and I have known each other for about 40 years, we were students together in Sydney Australia, we both attended the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, and we also played in Sydney."
Rowe went on to say that his friend was always trying to better himself within music, as well as being a better mentor and teacher for his students.
He added: "The whole community is trying to process that and the best way to do that is to play beautiful music."
Rowe wants the jazz community to pull together to support the late musician's family during this hard time, including those who remain in Australia.
Caltrain has stated that within the last five years, there have been seven incidents at the Burlingame Broadway crossing, with two of those resulting in fatalities.
Our thoughts are with Andrew's family, friends and fans.
