Man Trapped by Freight Train Has Leg Amputated in Rescue

Police say he'd been lying across the tracks in Bustleton and is now in critical condition.

Early this morning, a man was rescued from under a freight train in the Bustleton section of Philadelphia.

The Associated Press reports that emergency medical crews rescued a 46-year-old man by amputating one of his legs after he was pinned between a freight train and tracks around 2:45 a.m. The AP says authorities told them a crew from Einstein Medical Center worked for two hours to help free the man.

A spokeswoman from the Philadelphia Police Department specified that the man’s left leg was amputated and that he was transported to a hospital in Torresdale in critical condition. According to police, the man appeared to have been laying across the tracks, located near Grant Ave. and Welsh Rd., before becoming trapped by the train, which is operated by CSX, a national freight company. At this point, officials are unclear how or where the man got onto the tracks.

Rob Doolittle, a spokesperson for CSX, said that “safety is CSX’s highest priority, and incidents like this underscore the need for pedestrians to stay away from railroad tracks except at marked crossings.”

He added that he does not know how the man got on the tracks. CSX’s tracks are carried over a bridge at the intersection where the incident reportedly occurred, but throughout most of that part of Philadelphia, tracks are at grade level.

Follow @MaxGRettig on Twitter.