Two workers struck, killed by BART train near San Francisco

A commuter train that is part of a San Francisco Bay Area system whose employees are on strike hit and killed two maintenance workers Saturday afternoon, officials said.

Because of the ongoing transit strike, which kicked off early Friday morning, a non-union employee was operating the train. But Ben Fairow, police deputy chief for Bay Area Rapid Transit, told Al Jazeera that the driver in the accident was “qualified.”

"The employees were performing track inspections in response to a report of a dip in the track at the time of the accident," BART said in a statement. "The deceased include one BART employee and a contractor. Both people had extensive experience working around moving trains in both the freight train and the rapid transit industry."

BART added that, at the time of the accident, the train was "being run in automatice mode under computer control."

One of the workers killed was a member of AFSCME Local 3993, the smallest of three unions on strike, according to local media reports. 

ATU Local 1555 union expressed its condolences for the employees on twitter.  

"Our hearts go out to any @SFBART comrades involved in today's incident. In the midst of this #BARTstrike, NO ONE deserves to die."

The union added that "out of respect for the families involved," ATU members will not picket on Sunday. 

Despite the strike, trains continue to operate for maintenance and security reasons, but no passenger services are available until unions and BART management reach an agreement over labor disputes.

Ongoing negotiations about salaries and workers’ contribution to health and pension plans between San Francisco’s two largest transit unions and BART management fell apart Thursday.

The strike is a continuation to a four-day strike earlier this year in July.

BART management and union officials have been at an impasse over contract negotiations since Thursday.