Model/Actor Dies After Catching Fire Atop Commuter Train in Connecticut
A young model and actor, who caught fire while train surfing on top of the New York City-bound Metro-North service, succumbed to his injuries Monday.
Brian McClellen, 21, was fighting for life after he was found ablaze atop the train when it entered the Riverside station in Greenwich, Conn., around 5 a.m. Sunday.
A native of Ohio, McClellen had suffered 85 percent burn injuries, the Daily Mail reports. The model was also an avid skateboarding stuntman.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority confirmed Monday that McClellen suffered severe burn injuries after he came in contact with a pantograph. MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan explained that a pantograph is a mechanized arm pulsing with 12,500 volts of electricity that connects the train with overhead power lines.
The train lost power after the incident and about 20 people were asked to get off. Police suspect that McClellen had got on top of the car at the Stamford station. Investigation is in progress and police is now probing as to what incited him to take the step.
A crewmember used a fire extinguisher to douse the blaze, New York Daily News reports.
McClellen's agent Ryan Colby said that the model/actor was supposed to star in a show called "Younger" with Hilary Duff and in a film named "Urge" with Pierce Brosnan, Metro reports. One of his friends wrote on his Facebook tribute page: "I remember all of us sitting in math class &you would talk about your dreams & how you want to be a model you made your dreams come true you were funny full of life & you went after what you love your an amazing person and you will truly be missed."
