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Belmont High senior killed by train near school

E-mail|Link November 5, 2009 07:24 PM

By Michaela Stanelun and Abbie Ruzicka, Globe Correspondents

An 18-year-old Belmont High School senior was struck and killed by a commuter train this afternoon behind the school, according to the MBTA and local police.

An inbound train on the Fitchburg Line hit the young woman at 12:40 p.m., said Joe Pesaturo, an MBTA spokesman.

Police have spoken with the family of the student, Belmont High School principal Michael Harvey said. Grief counselors will be at the school Friday, he said.

The young woman walked onto the tracks into the path of a train that had just left Belmont Center Station, according to Deputy Chief Joseph O'Connor of the MBTA Transit Police.

"We have drawn no conclusion as to what happened in this incident or why she walked into the right of way, " O'Connor said.

The young woman was struck on a tree-lined section of the track about 250 yards from the nearest pedestrian crossing, Pesaturo said. A bike path also runs nearby. She was less than a half mile east of Belmont Station and was on the railroad's right-of-way, Pesaturo said.

"The high school has a fence between school property and the railroad," Pesaturo said.

The teenager's name has not been released. Transit police and other emergency responders responded to the scene and are investigating.