I wonder what it was they were throwing to cause such an arc? Maybe a long thin piece of metal? Attleboro MA is on the Amtrak North East Corridor.
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ATTLEBORO — A 13-year-old boy was hospitalized with serious burns Friday afternoon after a mishap that also disrupted rush hour rail service in the area.
Officials said the boy sustained third-degree burns at the train tracks behind the Fortifiber Corp. building on Starkey Avenue.
Attleboro Fire Capt. Gerald Brogan said the youth suffered flash burns on his leg after throwing an unknown object at the electric lines that power Amtrak trains, including the high-speed Acela. That caused an arc of high electric current, Brogan said, injuring the boy. The teen was on the tracks with a friend, also 13, at the time. The other youth was not hurt.
Officials did not release the boys’ names.
The injured teen was taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, R.I. His condition was not immediately available.
The fire department was called to the tracks at about 5 p.m., Brogan said. Firefighters were on the scene until about 8 p.m.
The incident affected signal power, causing delays for Amtrak.
Christina Lead, an Amtrak spokesperson, said Amtrak had to manually control trains travelling inbound and outbound until 7:30 p.m., when signal power was restored.
Lead said trains travelling in both directions would experience residual delays.
The MBTA reported a delay of up to an hour for a train traveling from Providence to Boston at 6:56 p.m. and several 25- to 35-minute delays for trains traveling from South Station due to the Amtrak delay, according to online service alerts. The backup eased later in the evening, the T’s social media accounts said.
