A neighbour has told how she saw a jet of flames on a railway bridge close to where a schoolboy suffered an electric shock.

The local woman was among the first to help and called for an ambulance when the alarm was raised.

The 12-year-old has been left fighting for his life after the incident on a railway line near Ashgill Road, Glasgow.

He was said to be in a critical condition in hospital after he came into contact with the overhead powerlines on the tracks close.

READ MORE: Boy, 12, suffers electric shock on railway line at Ashgill Road

British Transport Police were called to tracks in the north of the city at around 6.30pm on Sunday.

The neighbour recalled how she heard a loud bang and looked out of her window to see a “jet of flames” on the railway bridge.

She said: “I got up and went to the door and I saw a young boy running about shouting for his mum, then I saw what looked like a body lying on the bridge.

“I said to the wee boy ‘is that a body’ and he said ‘it’s my pal’. Then he just went back to shouting for his mum.”

The woman then called for an ambulance.

READ MORE: Boy injured on train line as Glasgow to Edinburgh trains are suspended

She told how there was a wire hanging over the wall of the railway bridge.

“There was a wire hanging over the wall and the wall’s all marked with it now.

The boy who was hurt's mum and dad arrived about 20 minutes after it happened. It’s just horrific for them, and for the wee boy who saw what happened to his pal.”

About 30 police officers and ambulances.

"Once they were all there I just went back in the house because I thought ‘they’re the professionals, they can deal with it now’, the neighbour added.

"I hardly slept last night, I think I’m still in a daze at what happened and I can’t stop thinking about those poor wee boys. They were just out playing and this happened.”

Paramedics from the Scottish Ambulance Service also attended and the child was taken to hospital in a critical condition. He remains at the hospital receiving treatment.