Train Strikes Cart Carrying Boy

An Amtrak train struck a shopping cart holding a 5-year-old boy, throwing him 70 feet and critically injuring him Thursday, authorities said.

The boy’s father was pushing the cart across the tracks when its wheels snagged, Police Sgt. Gary Snow said. Tong Xiong tried to pull his son out of the cart when he saw the train approaching, but the boy was strapped in, he said.

An Amtrak engineer sounded the horns but could not stop the southbound train in time, Snow said.

The boy was hospitalized at University Medical Center with major head injuries. Xiong suffered minor ankle injuries.

Investigators did not know what Xiong and his son were doing near the tracks about two to three miles from their Fresno home, Lt. John Fries said.