LEXINGTON, N.C. -- A man and a woman are dead after an early morning accident involving a train in Lexington.
Lexington police said Carmen Ruiz and Rafael Patricio, both 48-years-old, were lying on the tracks when an Amtrak train hit and killed them.
"About every three hours a person or a vehicle in the United States is hit by a train so that's eight people per day," said North Carolina’s Operation Lifesaver representative Margaret Cannell.
Cannell said not all train incidents are fatal.
"In 2015, we had a total of 23 deaths. Of those, 18 were trespassing fatalities and five highway rail collisions," said Cannell.
Today’s accident brings the death toll for 2016 up to 25.
"Unfortunately, North Carolina is in the top 15 in both trespassing fatalities and in highway rail collisions," said Cannell.
Cannell said Ruiz and Patricio were trespassing.
"If you are on the railroad tracks and you are not authorized personnel or you are not law enforcement, you are trespassing,” said Cannell. “This is a class three misdemeanor in North Carolina because all railroad tracks are private property."
Cannell said trespassing has gone up 18 percent across the South.
"It's because people are distracted," said Cannell.
Her advice is to stay at least 15 feet away from the tracks.
"We always tell people to look, listen and live and also see tracks think train,” said Cannell.
Investigators said they don't know why the couple was on the tracks.
The accident is still under investigation.