A 10-year-old boy lost his foot Friday but is in stable condition after being struck by a freight train in Fitchburg, authorities said.
The boy was on a MBTA-owned track near the Fitchburg station when he was struck by a Pan Am Railways train just after 6 p.m., according to a statement from Transit police. The youth was not identified.
The victim was taken by ambulance to HealthAlliance Hospital-Leominster and then flown by medical helicopter to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, said Kenneth Desjean, Fitchburg acting deputy fire chief.
Desjean, who responded to the scene near First Street, said the boy suffered a partial amputation from the train, but his foot had to be removed surgically later.
“The surgeons tried to save it but they were unable to,†Desjean said.
It was unclear how extensive the boy’s surgery was on Friday night.
The boy was conscious, alert, and speaking following the incident, the deputy chief said.
It was not immediately known why the victim was on the tracks or whether he was with anyone at the time of the accident, but Desjean said the boy’s father was at the scene when responders arrived.
The train, which was made up of three locomotives and an undisclosed number of cars, was traveling west when it hit the boy, the T said.
The incident caused delays on several Fitchburg/South Acton commuter rail trains Friday evening, according to Scott Farmelant, spokesman for Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad. The scene was cleared at 7:47 p.m. and regular service resumes soon after, Farmelant said.
Pan Am did not return a request for comment Friday evening. Transit police are investigating the incident.
Nicholas Jacques can be reached at nicholas.jacques@globe.com.
