Family holds vigil for toddler hit by train near Ballarat

The pair were playing together at a home in Ballarat, Victoria, when the boy's mother took her eye off the children for a moment.


That was enough time for the children to wander into the path of a VLocity train that had been travelling at up to 130km/h.


The driver hit the emergency brake on the three-carriage train, but was unable to stop in time.


The boy was thrown up to 15m after being "clipped" by the Ballarat-bound service.


He was fighting for his life and had been placed in an induced coma at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital last night with head, chest, and stomach injuries.


A spokeswoman confirmed the boy was in a critical condition while the girl, who was also injured in the accident, was stable.


Senior-Sergeant Neale Robinson said the children had been playing together at the boy's home at Wallace, about 19km east of Ballarat, just before the accident happened.


Ballarat Sen-Sgt Neale Robinson said the children had been playing together at the boy's home just before the accident.


"They were just friends playing in a yard. It appears they've escaped the mother's watch for a few minutes and came out here to play and the most unfortunate thing has happened," he said.


The home where the boy lives is just metres from the track, with no fence preventing access.


"It's a terrible scene to attend," Sen-Sgt Robinson said.


Intensive care flight paramedic Colin Carty said the boy's condition was serious when he arrived at the scene.


"The boy suffered serious head, chest and abdominal injuries and is in a critical condition," Mr Carty said.


"To ensure he was getting adequate oxygen to his body, intensive care paramedics gave the boy some drugs to sedate and paralyse him, putting him into a coma.


"That allowed them to put a breathing tube deep into his airway and take over breathing for him."


The train driver, who had just moments to apply the brakes, was believed to be devastated. Between 90-100 passengers were on the V/Line train when the tragedy happened.


Passenger Jane Oliver said the train was not travelling at high speed because it was rounding a bend.


"It didn't feel like he slammed on the brakes, but it would be pretty hard to stop such a heavy train," she said.