Daily Staff Writer

A Nevada man was killed early Friday when he was struck by a Union Pacific train on Clark Avenue.

Robert Dean Bass, Jr., 21, was struck and killed at about 2:15 a.m.

“As of now, we’re not sure why he was hanging out around the tracks,” said Sgt. Randy Kessel of the Ames Police Department.

He said police haven’t determined whether Bass was on the tracks or beside them when he was hit.

“We do know that he was close enough to the track to have eye contact with the engineer,” Kessel said.

Police investigators will listen to the train’s black box recorder to get more details about the accident, he said.

Kessel also said police haven’t determined if drugs or alcohol played a factor in Bass’ death.