Boy flown to hospital after being hit by train in Dawson
Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard
Authorities said an 9-year-old boy was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital after being hit by a train while riding his bicycle in Dawson Wednesday morning.
Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard
Authorities said an 9-year-old boy was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital after being hit by a train while riding his bicycle in Dawson Wednesday morning.
Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard
A state police forensic unit member investigates the cause of a train collision between a CSX train and a 9-year-old boy riding a bike Wednesday morning.
Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard
A state police forensic unit investigates the cause of a train collision between a CSX train and a 9-year-old boy riding a bike Wednesday morning.
Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard
A CSX train hit a 9-year-old boy riding a bicycle Wednesday morning, critically injuring the boy.
Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard
A 9-year-old boy riding a bicycle was critically injured in Dawson Wednesday morning.
A 9-year-old boy was flown to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh after being hit by a CSX train in Dawson Wednesday morning.
Emergency responders were dispatched to the intersection of Railroad and Laughlin streets at about 9:30 a.m.
Officials at the scene said the boy was riding his bike and indicated his condition is “very critical.”
A CSX spokesman said the company sent officials to the scene to download data from the train that may shed light on what occurred.
Medical equipment was strewn around the small bike, which lay in the road a few feet from the train tracks after the crash. A state police forensic unit examined and photographed the bike when they arrived on scene to investigate.
No hazardous materials were on the train, according to CSX.
“CSX personnel are working on site with local law enforcement as they investigate, and our thoughts are with everyone impacted by this tragic accident,” said a statement issued by a CSX spokesman.
Officials have not yet released information on how the crash occurred.
Several neighbors recalled multiple crashes between trains and vehicles at the railroad crossing, including a fatal collision.
Since 1986, six people were injured and one person was killed at the railroad crossing in five crashes prior to Wednesday’s collision, according to Federal Railroad Administration reports. The most recent crash occurred Dec. 23, 2015 when a 26-year-old man driving 45-miles-per-hour failed to stop before crossing the tracks in his SUV. He was not injured. His view was obstructed by a building, according to the report. Three people were injured when a light locomotive hit a car stopped on the tracks Oct. 11, 2014. A person was killed and two others were injured when a freight train hit a driver who was crossing the tracks July 5, 1987. One person was injured in a crash in 1986, and no injuries were reported in a crash in 1985.
The Federal Railroad Administration revised the railroad crossing’s inventory form Aug. 9. About 24 trains pass through the crossing daily. Trains have a 30-mile-per-hour speed limit and vehicles on the road have a 25-mile-per-hour speed limit. None of the trains in previous crashes were reported to be speeding.
Neighbors said people not familiar with the area have difficulty seeing whether a train is coming, though flashing lights and train horns warn drivers of approaching trains. Train traffic moves in two directions at the crossing. The train crossing is not gated.
Trains were diverted around the intersection during the preliminary investigation. The intersection was also closed to road traffic.