Two found dead on east London rail tracks

Two people have been found dead on railway tracks in east London after they were electrocuted on the line. Police are investigating whether they were graffiti artists.

The first victim’s body was so badly burned that British Transport Police (BTP) are yet to determine the sex. The other was a man in his 20s.

Both victims had injuries consistent with electrocution, the police said. Their deaths occurred at separate points on an Overground line between Hackney Wick and Stratford.

A man who raised the alarm described the incident as “horrific” but said at first he did not realise he was witnessing a burning body.

Joseph Allchin, a 35-year-old journalist whose Hackney Wick flat overlooks the railway track, said he went to his window at about 12.50am on Thursday after hearing an explosion. “It sounded like a very loud firework,” he said.

“There was a freight train stopped on the track and there was a large fire next to a big white canister on the train. The fire was sparking.

“At 12.56 I called the fire service and they got there quickly but struggled to get on to the tracks.”

Allchin’s flat is so close to the track that he could hear the fire officers talking. “I overheard them saying it was a body. Later I overheard them saying there was a second one. It was very horrific, but for a long time I didn’t know what was burning.”

Officers are speaking to the victims’ family and friends to find out why they were on the tracks.

The first casualty was pronounced dead at the scene near Hackney Wick station at about 1am; the second was found more than two hours later, a mile further east close to Stratford.

BTP said the deaths were being treated as unexplained, though graffiti was a possible line of inquiry. A source said: “I don’t know whether any spray cans were found. We have some work to do before we can say definitively that’s why they were there.

“We have further inquiries in relation to that, as well as contacting family and friends, to understand exactly why they were there.”

London fire brigade confirmed it was called to reports of a fire on the tracks near Wallis Road, Hackney Wick, just before 1am. One person was found dead at the scene. Two hours later it was called to help police retrieve a casualty on the line near Carpenters Road, Stratford.

Allchin said: “I first thought it was vandalism of the train because of this canister. I was very concerned that this would blow up, which is why I called the fire brigade. It also looked like a great blank canvas for a graffiti artist, but that’s just an assumption.”

Last June, three graffiti artists, Alberto Fresneda Carrasco, Jack Gilbert and Harrison Scott-Hood, were killed by a freight train at Loughborough Junction, south London.

A police source said: “That was a very different situation. At Loughborough Junction the victims were struck by a train. This one they were electrocuted so the circumstances are slightly different and more complex because of the recovery.”

DCI Tim Tubbs said: “I would ask anyone who was near Stratford or Hackney Wick last night and saw something which they think might be relevant to contact us as soon as possible.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact British Transport Police by phoning 0800 405040 or texting 61016.