Hammond -- A Ponchatoula man is dead after he allegedly fell asleep on some train tracks in Hammond and was hit by a freight train, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office.

Tangipahoa Chief Deputy Dennis Pevey reports that 40-year-old Timothy O'Mally was pronounced dead at the scene by personnel with the Tangipahoa Parish Coroner's Office.

The accident happened shortly after 7:20 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9, just south of I-12 along East Club Deluxe Road in Hammond. Chief Deputy Pevey says that the train engineer told investigators that the train was traveling at 24 miles an hour when he thought he saw something on the tracks.

The chief deputy says that the engineer said that when they got close enough to see the object, they determined that it was apparently someone sleeping on the tracks. Chief Deputy Pevey says that the train traveled some 300 feet before it came to a complete stop.

Chief Deputy Pevey adds that toxicology reports are pending in an effort to possibly determine why O'Mally was lying on the tracks.