05/25/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, USA // Tara Monks // Tara Monks
Philadelphia, PA – An 11-year-old boy was killed Saturday, May 22, 2010, after he climbed onto a SEPTA commuter train and touched a rooftop pantograph, as reported by the Philadelphia Enquirer.
Jewel Angelo was killed at approximately 7 p.m. after he left a neighborhood party in North Philadelphia. He and several other youths were seen along nearby rail tracks near Elwood Street prior to the accident. His body was not found until Sunday morning.
The train pantograph carries 11,000 volts of electricity from overhead lines to the train for power, according to SEPTA assistant manager James B. Jordan.
The man who organized the neighborhood party, Eric Holiday, told reporters he believed the boy and other kids accessed the train station near the intersection of Elwood and Logan Streets.
According to Enquirer reporters, the rail yard is gated and locked, but accessible by foot along the train tracks.
Angelo’s stepmother, Jaime Tucker, finds blame in SEPTA’s safety precautions. She told reporters that the electrified mechanism atop the trains are completely exposed. She stated, “There’s nothing covering the wires; it’s like a free-for-all.”
She also stated, “I hold my child at fault because he should not have been there, but yes, I do hold SEPTA at fault… In the suburbs, they have gates up to six feet, but in the ‘hood they don’t care. In the low-income areas they don’t care.”
Angelo’s death was the second fatality this year that has occurred on SEPTA’s railroad system.
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