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Schoolboy, 11, 'was on phone' when fatally hit by train at level crossing, report says
An 11-year-old boy who died after being hit by a train at a level crossing was probably looking at a video on his phone at the time of the accident, investigators have said.
Jaiden Shehata was walking to school when he was fatally struck at the Bourneview footpath crossing near Kenley, south London, in January, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said. Jaiden, who was a pupil at the nearby Riddlesdown Collegiate secondary school, was hit by a Southern train travelling at about 50mph.
The train driver sounded the horn and applied the emergency brake when he saw the boy start to cross the railway but, though he looked up, he did not have time to move clear before the train reached the crossing. Jaiden, who had used the crossing regularly since starting at Riddlesdown Collegiate the previous September, suffered fatal injuries after being hit by the train, which stopped about 200m further along the line.
The child did not realise the danger he was in, probably because he was "distracted" by his phone, the board concluded. CCTV showed Jaiden's coat hood was pulled over his head and, as he walked towards the crossing, he was looking ahead and down at a "glowing object," almost certain to be the illuminated screen of a phone in his hands.
Analysis of the device suggested a video clip was playing at the time. The site does not have warning lights or barriers, which the RAIB said is "in common with many footpath crossings".
Six near misses Users are expected to stop, look and listen for approaching trains, and "make their own decision about whether or not it is safe to cross.
Amir Nisi
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