Commuter Rail train 408 on the Fitchburg Line hit a car in Belmont around 8 this morning, on Brighton Street near Hittinger Street. A woman and three children were reportedly in the car at the time. While first responders evacuated one person by stretcher, there were no reports of life-threatening injuries.
Bob Ouellette, who works in the F.A. Williams, Inc. building close to the railroad, said he heard the accident first and later spoke to a nearby construction worker who had seen it.
“The morning traffic and the afternoon traffic, it’s crazy here on Brighton Street,” he said. “So when we heard the horn this morning we figured something wasn’t good
“We came out right away and what we heard, the woman and three children were headed towards Cambridge. She was on the tracks leaning on her horn, she pulled forward to get off the tracks. She hustled to get her kids out of the car, which she did a good job of.”
The train leaned on its horn as the woman was getting the third child of the car, Oullette added. At that time, it appeared the train had slowed down a bit, but the impact of the train hitting the car whiplashed the woman, causing her to get hurt. The children were safe and unharmed, according to Oullette, but he said the woman looked “pretty banged up.”
Passengers Laura Brockellman and Sue Kelley were both on the train at the time of the accident.
“We didn’t feel anything, we didn’t see anything until we looked out the window. We saw a car that had obviously been smashed from the rear. Right away a man took two young children from the car, one in his arms and one was walking,” Brockellman said.
“I don’t think he was in the car, he was just there at the scene,” Kelley added. “And then the ambulance came and the police came.”
Emergency responders put someone who looked like an adult on a stretcher at the back of the car and carried them away from the scene, according to Brockellman. The front of the black compact car looked fine, she added, and its lights were still on. The back of the car received the most damage.
Passengers can expect significant delays. Shuttle buses will replace service from Belmont into Boston until further notice, the MBTA said on Twitter.
