Tributes to light rail victim identified as Sydney teenage girl’s death

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Tributes have been pouring in for 16-year-old Kayla Dalgim, who was identified as the girl who died after being crushed under a light rail vehicle in Sydney’s Chinatown district.

Many people posted their goodbyes on social media on Thursday.

“I can’t believe you’re gone,” Bernd Escort Cepe Dedumo wrote on Facebook.

“Rest in peace in the arms of the Lord, and may the light of eternity shine upon you.”

Dalgim was named by multiple media outlets on Thursday.

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Emergency services were dispatched to George Street in the Haymarket area around midnight Wednesday after receiving a call that a person had been trapped under a carriage.

Police rescuers and fire rescuers worked for two hours to rescue the seriously injured girl, but were unable to save her.

A New South Wales Police spokesperson told AAP that police were investigating whether the girl was trying to cross a wire between vehicles when she was trapped.

Witnesses told Nine News that the teenage girl was with a friend when she tried to cross George Street.

The girl was crushed under a vehicle in front of dozens of witnesses, and shocked passengers rushed to her aid after the tram stopped.

“We were yelling ‘help, help,’ so the police and paramedics rushed to the scene,” said one witness.

Rescue footage showed paramedics using hydraulic tools and wooden blocks to lift the tram.

The 52-year-old tram driver was taken to hospital for mandatory examinations.
New South Wales Department of Transport Secretary Howard Collins issued a statement on Thursday to extend his condolences to the girl’s family.

“All of us at NSW Transport are saddened by the death of a teenage girl overnight at a light rail station in central Sydney,” he said.

“We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends and loved ones.

“We would like to thank the ambulance crew, staff and everyone who helped last night and will continue to provide staff with the support they need.”

— AAP