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Potosi man dies in Montana train accident
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MISSOULA, Mont. — A Potosi native was killed in a train collision in a rail yard April 4.

Richard Schmitz, 57, died when a train collided with a utility vehicle in the Montana Rail Link yard in Missoula April 4 around 7 a.m.

The utility vehicle was found in a narrow space between two trains, according to The Missoulian newspaper.

The Missoula County coroner ruled the death accidental due to blunt-force trauma April 5.

Missoula police, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration are investigating the death.

Schmitz was born in Dubuque and was a 1976 Potosi High School graduate. He moved to Montana in 1978 and had worked for Montana Rail Link since 1997.

A memorial service was held in Missoula Saturday, and a memorial service is planned in Potosi later this year.