Rochester teenager hurt in downtown train accident

ROCHESTER - A Rochester teen was injured Monday afternoon when she was reportedly struck by a freight train in the downtown.

Police got the call around 4:15 p.m. and responded to the area of Columbus Avenue between Summer and Portland streets for a report of a female that had just been hit by a train.

When emergency personnel arrived the train was stopped on the tracks and a female was found sitting in a grass area at the side of the tracks.

Initial investigation indicated the train, a NH Northcoast freight train, was traveling south when it struck the high-school aged female who was crossing the tracks in a nondesignated crossing area while possibly distracted.

The female juvenile was treated at the scene before being transported to Frisbie Memorial Hospital with what were described as nonlife-threatening injuries.

The Rochester Police Department took the opportunity to remind everyone that all train tracks are private property and to never walk on tracks as it is illegal and highly dangerous.

Pedestrians should only cross train tracks at designated pedestrian or roadway crossings and obey all warning signs and signals posted there, police said in a statement.