Boy, 14, struck by freight train on Southwest Side

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 14-year-old boy was struck by a freight train in the 5900-block of S. Natoma on Chicago's Southwest Side, police said.

Police said the boy suffered injuries to his right leg as a result of the incident, which happened around 11 a.m. Monday.

A neighbor who lives near the tracks says the boy told him that he and two friends had been playing near the tracks, trying to jump on an eastbound freight train when the teen slipped and his leg got caught under the moving car.

That train kept going and a few minutes later, the conductor of the train behind it - pictured above - stopped and sounded its horn after seeing the boy.

"It was a very, very long whistle. And everybody was alerted by it, came out, and then the firemen and policemen were here right away and the ambulances, and they went to address the boy," said neighbor Arlene Obirek.

Neighbors say people cross the train tracks all the time - which is illegal - but this is the first incident in recent memory that they can recall someone being injured along the tracks.

The boy is in serious condition at Loyola University Medical Center.

Police are continuing to investigate and no other details have been released.