Ghost Hunting 101: When hunting ghosts the first concern is not to join them in the realms of the dead. Unfortunately not everyone takes Ghost Hunting 101, or perhaps some of them fell asleep during that lecture.
Case in point: Local legend in Statesville, N.C. posits that on the anniversary of a passenger train wreck that happened on August 27, 1891, the sound of screeching breaks and screams can be heard at the bridge where the accident happened. Here's what happened this year:
Shortly before 3 a.m. Friday, on the 119th anniversary of the Bostian Bridge train tragedy and at about the same time, between 10 and 12 ghost hunters were on that approximately 300-foot long span.
They were hoping to hear the sounds of the crash, and perhaps see something.Instead, a real Norfolk-Southern train -- three engines and one car -- turned the corner as it headed east to Statesville, about 35 miles north of Charlotte, authorities said.
The terrified "amateur ghost watchers" ran away, back toward Statesville, trying to cover the nearly 150 feet to safety, said Iredell County Sheriff's Office Capt. Darren Campbell.
All but two made it.
Christopher Kaiser, 29, of Charlotte, was struck and killed, said Campbell.
A woman who witnesses say Kaiser pushed to safety fell about 30 to 40 feet from the trestle and was injured. Her name and condition were not known Friday night. She was being treated at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.Or take this sad case:
A 29-year-old woman is dead after falling three storeys while exploring a building in downtown Toronto.
Toronto Police initially said the man and woman were looking for ghosts because they thought the building was haunted but by Thursday afternoon would only say the pair were exploring the historic, gothic-style, building on the University of Toronto campus.
Police — who have now labelled the incident “death by misadventure” — said the man and the woman entered the building around two a.m.
The pair, who were on a first date after meeting on the Internet, made it to a third floor roof and were trying to cross to another section of the building. The man successfully made the leap but as the woman tried to crawl across she fell, according to police.
“It has no support,” said Toronto Police Constable Tony Vella. “So as soon as she put her body weight on the wiring system it collapses.”
Constructed in 1875, the building was originally the home of Knox College before becoming the Spadina Military Hospital during the First World War and then a laboratory.
