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"The conductor and the engineer witnessed it," said DeBlasio.
Officials said the man was not hit at the crossing. Authorities, as of yesterday, did not release further information about how the accident occurred.
The train was operating northbound, from Philadelphia, Pa., to Kearny, with two locomotives that held 22 cars, said Gary Sease, the public information officer for CSX Transportation.
The victim was struck by an intermodal train, Sease said, which carries a variety of consumer goods inside containers and truck trailers on flat beds.
The accident scene resembled a clip from a gruesome horror movie as investigators collected strewn body parts by the side of the railroad tracks.
DeBlasio said the Mercer County Medical Examiner Dr. Raafat Ahmad wason the scene.
Ahmad will begin trying to make an identification today.
The man was crushed so severely by the freight train, that he was unrecognizable, authorities said.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, 203 trespassers have died in the first five months of this year. This number is a 14 percent increase over last year’s count of 178.
Pennington Borough, Hopewell, the Sheriff’s Office and the New Jersey State Police, who had crime scene officers on the scene, are investigating the incident, along with the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the CSX Railroad police.
CSX Transportation ships automobiles, juice, fruit, fuel chemicals, food products, agriculture, paper products and forest products and operates a railroad in 22 states.
In New Jersey, according to the company’s Web site, CSX operates and maintains 650 miles of track and has major rail yards in Newark, Elizabeth, Manville and North Bergen.
The company’s intermodal terminals are located in South Kearny, Little Ferry and North Bergen.
-- Scott Frost contributed to this report.
