Metra train kills Larkin student near Kimball St.

A 15-year-old Elgin boy was killed Wednesday night by a Metra train near the Kimball Street rail crossing in Elgin, officials said.

Timothy A. Kathka was walking along the tracks when he was struck by the Milwaukee West train heading east at 10:18 p.m.

The train had left the Big Timber Road station eight minutes earlier.

Police said the train was visible for several hundred yards from the point where the boy was hit.

Witnesses said it appeared the signals and gates at the Kimball Street railroad crossing had been operating properly.

Metra employees were seen testing the signals and gates at the crossing Thursday afternoon.

A Metra spokesman said there was a 51-minute delay Wednesday after the accident.

Kathka attended Larkin High School, Elgin Area Unit District U-46 Communications Director Tony Sanders said.

Counselors were available at the school on Thursday to assist any student who needed help.

Kane County Coroner Chuck West conducted an autopsy Thursday and said the cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma. Toxicology test results will be available in about three weeks.

The Kimball Street rail crossing was the location of three deaths on Dec. 8, 2006, when a train struck a van that tried to go around the rail gates that were down.

A 38-year-old man also died about 100 yards north of the Kimball Street rail crossing after he was struck by a train on Sept. 16, 2004.