NEWPORT NEWS, Va (WTVR) - A 10-year-old boy is recovering after having his leg severed by a train in Newport News. Police said the child was playing with some friends on the track at the time.
Officials told our sister-station WTKR it happened at the dead-end of the 400 block of Bellwood Road. Witnesses told investigators the child's leg got caught under the train as it passed around 2:00 p.m. Sunday.
The boy, a Hampton resident, was taken to a local hospital and then air-lifted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Neighbor James Slater said he was already on the phone with 911, to report the children playing on the tracks, when he heard the screams. He said he came outside to find the boy dragging himself away from the train tracks.
"He was able to get himself off the tracks and he was in this area right here by the pole and he was in an upright sitting position," Slater said. "He just kept saying hold me, I don`t want to die. So I tried to be encouraging to him, tell him he wasn`t gonna die. It`s gonna be okay."
Neighbors told WTKR children playing on the tracks is a recurring problem in the neighborhood. The trains were stopped for several hours yesterday, but are back up and running today.
Both CSX and police are investigating the incident.
An earlier report indicated the child's aunt told WTKR doctors were able to re-attach the leg, however police and a hospital spokesman later told WTKR the leg was not re-attached.
