A passing train severed both feet of a 9-year-old boy in St. Paul Thursday night.

Police were called shortly before 6 p.m. to a scene near Farrington Street and W. Ivy Avenue after a 911 caller reported an injured boy, said St. Paul police spokesman Howie Padilla.

On Friday, the child was identified by St. Paul Police as Marshawn Kenneth Farr-Robinson.

"The information we now have is that he basically was on the train tracks, or near the train tracks, and seems to be playing as a moving train was going by," he said.

"He lost both his feet at the ankles," said St. Paul Watch Cmdr. Eric Anderson. "The train took them both off."

The boy was taken to Regions Hospital, where no information was available on his condition.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe owns the tracks, and Anderson said he believes it was a Canadian Pacific train.

No foul play is suspected, Padilla said. "Of course, the investigation is ongoing, but at this time it appears that it's just quite frankly a case of a child being a child."

Joy Powell