A MAN lost several fingers when he fell asleep next to a railway line near Rishton last night and was hit by a train.
The man, who has not been named, is said to be in his 30s.
He was lying beside the track just after dark at 10.35pm, about a mile on the Burnley side of Rishton station, when he was hit by the passing train, a spokesperson for the British Transport Police in Preston said.
"He had a very, very lucky escape," she added.
She confirmed that the man had suffered a partial amputation of the hand.
A spokesman for the Lancashire Ambulance Service said the victim had said he had been been asleep when the incident happened.
He was picked up injured by people on another passing train and taken to Rishton station.
There, he was treated by an ambulance crew before being taken on to Blackburn Royal Infirmary.
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