Girl recovering after being dragged by train

A Whangarei schoolgirl is recovering after being hit and dragged along by a train as her friends looked on in horror.

A Whangarei police spokesman said the 13-year-old's lucky escape happened on a designated rail crossing in the central city at about 3.30pm yesterday.

He said the girl was with friends when a train pulling a shipping container approached.

The group of friends stopped to let the train pass but the girl continued, and was struck by the side of the train engine and dragged for a "few metres" before being released and knocked unconscious.

"She was taken to Whangarei Hospital with moderate facial injuries and kept in overnight as a precaution," the spokesman told NZPA.

He said it was understood the girl was treated for lacerations to her face and it was not clear how she had managed to walk into the train's path, apparently without seeing it.

The train stopped about 100m down the track and the driver was later offered counselling.

- NZPA