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MBTA: Signals Working When Boy Killed

Child Went Under Train-Crossing Gate, Neighbors Say

POSTED: 2:57 pm EDT May 25, 2008
UPDATED: 11:36 am EDT May 27, 2008

A 5-year-old child was killed after being hit by a train Sunday afternoon, police said.

Stephen Garbarino was riding his bicycle across the tracks on Oak Island Road around 2 p.m., when a northbound Newburyport/Rockport train hit him, according to the Suffolk District Attorney's Office.

NewsCenter 5’s Todd Kazakiewich reported MBTA maintenance workers tested the safety equipment, but determined everything was working properly, and the speed of the train was not a factor.

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Sources told NewsCenter 5 a woman and two children went under the train-crossing gate when it was down.

Neighbors said the woman and children went under the gate after waiting for an inbound train to pass by, but an outbound train came through soon after as the gates remained down.

“We believe that there were two trains passing through the crossing at similar times, one traveling inbound, one traveling outbound,” said MBTA police Deputy Chief Donald O’Connor.

Police said Garbarino didn't see the train in time to get out of the way.

“All of the sudden you heard yelling and commotion and you heard the train stop and screeching brakes,” said neighbor Jimmy Olsen.

“This is a very family-oriented neighborhood. You see the kids all the time every day, and they’re really a great group of kids,” said neighbor Randy Waldron.

Buses replaced train service on the whole line, except outbound service between Lynn Station and Rockport where the trains continued to run.

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