A Northwestern professor was killed Saturday afternoon after a Metra train hit his car in Lake Forest, Ill., officials said.
Feinberg Prof. Victor B. Tsirline, 35, was pronounced dead on the scene in the north suburb of Chicago, according to the officials. The Lake County coroner’s office said the train struck Tsirline’s car at about 2:40 p.m. near the intersection of Old Mill and Waukegan roads.
Witnesses told police Tsirline drove around the lowered gates at the crossing after its warning bells and lights went off. He was trying to continue east when his vehicle was struck by the train, which was heading south on the Milwaukee District-North Line. The train pushed Tsirline’s car, a black four-door sedan, about 100 yards along the tracks, police said.
Tsirline, of Lincolnshire, Ill., was also a surgeon at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Jane Griffin said. In Feinberg, he was an assistant professor of gastrointestinal and endocrine surgery.
Dr. David M. Mahvi, president of Northwestern Medical Group, said Monday the hospital was “deeply saddened” by Tsirline’s death.
“Dr. Tsirline was a talented Northwestern Medicine surgeon who contributed greatly to our surgical team in Lake Forest with his minimally invasive surgical expertise,” Mahvi said in a statement. “This is a tremendous loss for our organization and we extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and colleagues.”
University spokesman Al Cubbage called Tsirline’s death a “shocking loss” and said NU extends its condolences to Tsirline’s family and friends.
Another Feinberg professor, Piotr Kulesza, died last weekend in what police believe was an accidental fall from a hotel balcony in Hollywood, Fla.
— Patrick Svitek
