ROYAL, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say a 9-year-old boy who was riding a bike to school has been struck and killed by a freight train in central Illinois.

Union Pacific railroad says the boy was struck by one of its trains in the village of Royal, Illinois, at about 7:45 a.m. CDT Friday. Lt. Curt Apperson of the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office says the boy was near other people who were not injured.

He calls it a “tragic accident.” The News-Gazette of Champaign reports the boy was struck along tracks about two blocks from Prairieview-Ogden North Elementary.