A B.C. man had what can only be called a very bad day on Wednesday.
Police in Kamloops say the 51-year-old man hit by a train is the same person suspected of having started a grass fire a short time earlier and is also a person of interest in an assault case.
The sequence of events, which police called "bizarre," began when firefighters responded to a fire at a mobile home park around 3 p.m. A witness reported seeing a man flee on a bicycle soon after the fire started.
While cops were en route, a call came in from CP Rail reporting a freight train had hit a pedestrian.
Police found a drunk man with serious burns to his body and a deep gash to the head where he had been struck by the train, and they soon linked the two cases, Staff Sgt. Grant Learned said in a news release.
According to police, the man passed out while smoking behind his home and woke up to find his clothes and the surrounding grass on fire. He grabbed a bike and took off.
The man, who has not been named, is recovering in hospital. But there might be even more trouble coming his way -- police believe the bike may be stolen, and that the man may have been involved in an assault on a transit bus driver on Sept. 27.
No charges have been laid in connection with any of the cases.
Police also said they believe the cause of the fire was accidental.
