A one-year-old girl died after being fatally hit by a freight train in a country town where her family had only moved to a week earlier. Lily Chifor had been playing with her older sister Aria in Baan Baa, near Narrabri in New South Wales, Australia, when tragedy struck.
As the toddler played with her sister, she wandered onto the railway tracks and into the path of a passing freight train at around 7.50pm on Friday, November 7. The little girl was treated for serious injuries at the scene before being raced to Narrabri Hospital, where she died. The shocking incident has plunged the small community of around 170 people into sadness, with the family only calling Baan Baa their home a week prior.
A group of children were playing near the train line and the parents were not nearby, according to police.
Calling the incident an “absolute tragedy” Oxley Police District Superintendent David Cooper, says investigations are ongoing.
“Our understanding is that the child was just playing. This is a really tragic case of a child who had gone to play in a bad location,” Superintendent Cooper said.
He continued: “The child was with a number of other children. The parents were not in the immediate vicinity, but we are aware of where the parents were and the supervision of the child is not in doubt.
“I want to highlight that this is nothing but an absolute tragedy and our heartfelt condolences go out to the family.
“This will have a broad impact on the community, and we want to make sure everybody gets the support they need. I can only imagine the horror and grief that [the parents] are in at the moment.”
The train driver, a 22-year-old man, appeared to be uninjured but was taken to the hospital for mandatory testing.
“There is no suggestion at all that the train diver had any negligence, and I feel for that young man as well,” Cooper added.
Reacting to the heartbreaking news Narrabri Mayor Darrell Tiemens said: “When it happens in a tiny little village like that, where everyone knows everyone, and a community like this, this is really, really hard to take.”