MBTA Police: Needham Line fatality a 'tragic accident'

By Globe Staff

MBTA Transit Police have identified the boy who was struck and killed by a Needham Line commuter train Tuesday night as 15-year-old Nicholas Scaringello of West Roxbury.

Lieutenant Detective Mark Gillespie said it appears, based on a preliminary investigation, that the boy and a 15-year-old friend, who was uninjured, were walking along the tracks, when they were surprised by an eastbound train near the Bellevue Station in Roslindale.

"It does not appear to be operator error at this point. It's just a tragic accident where the young boys were in an area that's an extreme hazard," he said.

He said the boys may have had a false sense of security because a westbound train had just passed on the single track. They also may not have heard the train's engine because it was in the rear pushing the train as it came around a bend, and because a storm had just passed by, leaving the leaves on trees heavy with moisture, he said.

He said the boys appeared to have been running for the platform when one of them was hit.

The engineer was going "well below" the posted speed limit of 60 mph in the area, he said.

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