Girl’s legs severed by slow-moving train

QUEBEC – A 20-year-old girl was in critical condition Monday after being hit by a train that severed both her legs.

The girl was trying to jump onto a slow-moving train at the Jonquiere station, some 250 kilometres north of Quebec City.

Saguenay police spokesman Bruno Cormier said the girl missed the train and fell under its wheels.

The train rolled over her legs.

Cormier said the accident took place shortly after midnight Sunday. The girl was with a 19-year-old male when it happened and both appeared to have been playing a game, he noted.

A passerby quickly intervened to provide the girl with first aid, notably by applying a tourniquet on her legs.

"That stopped the bleeding and likely saved the girl’s life," Cormier said, adding she was in critical but stable situation Monday morning.

The Good Samaritan eventually had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for shock, he said.

Police have opened an investigation and officials from the Canadian National, operating the train, are also looking into the incident.