THE brother of a young man killed when he was hit by a train has paid tribute to a “great and intelligent” person.

Mariusz Mirek said he has “run out of tears to cry” after just learning younger brother Waldemar, 29, died at Barming station more than two weeks ago.

Waldemar, a Polish building surveyor known as Walter who shared a house with friends in Maidstone, was hit by a train at 70mph on Saturday, May 17.

But his family – who live in America – only learnt of his death on Monday and had to glean details from the Kent Messenger’s website.

Speaking from his home in Chicago, Mariusz, 32, said: “I am so heartbroken and miss my brother so much. I am a grown man but I have run out of tears to cry.

“You never think something like this will happen to you. I loved my brother dearly. He was a great and intelligent person from a religious background, but for some reason he couldn’t come to peace with himself.

“It’s such a waste of a life because he had so much to live for. None of the family had seen Walter for nine years, but it didn’t mean we loved him any less. We are all praying for him.”

Waldemar – one of five children – spoke regularly to his family until his death, despite not having seen them for about nine years.

Unable to contact them, transport police tracked down his grandmother via consular officials in Poland.

Details finally trickled through two weeks after Waldemar’s death.

Salesman Mariusz added: “We’ve had very little information and are trying to piece together what happened to my brother. We have very few details – your internet article is all we have.”

Waldemar had been standing on the London-bound platform at Barming just before he was hit by the Southeastern service from Canterbury West to Victoria at about 12.40pm.

An inquest is expected to open early next week.