Boy, 14, fatally struck by train in Hoffman Estates

HOFFMAN ESTATES -- A freight train fatally struck a 14-year-old boy Sunday afternoon in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates.

About 12:50 p.m., emergency personnel responded to a report of a pedestrian struck by a train near the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E) tracks about 500 feet north of Columbine Boulevard near Pratum Avenue, according to Hoffman Estates police.

Michael A. Cecala, of the 5200 block of Elliott Drive in Hoffman Estates, was dead on the scene and pronounced dead at Sherman Hospital in Elgin via telemetry, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

Police said the body was found between the tracks.

The teen was struck by a Canadian National Railway freight train from Waterloo, Iowa, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, according to company spokesman Patrick Waldron, who said Canadian National police are assisting Hoffman Estates police.

The accident happened just north of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) near the Sears Centre. No events took place at the arena Sunday, according to the Sears Centre Web site.

The Hoffman Estates Fire Department could not immediately provide further information.