Friends have paid tribute to a “kind and caring” schoolboy who lay down on the train tracks in front of his horrified classmates.
Scores of floral tributes have been left to Sam Connor, 14, who is said to have handed his bag and phone to a friend before he lay down on the tracks in front of a rush-hour train.
Up to 50 school children witnessed Monday's tragedy on their way home from school.
Reports have claimed the Year Nine pupil was being bullied, but Catholic secondary Salesian School in Chertsey, Surrey, have said there is no record of him being picked on.
Deborah Barrett, mother of Sam's half-sisters, paid tribute to the teen, who was the youngest of six.
She said: “He was a sensitive little soul, a cute little thing who was into gaming.
“He was funny and sarcastic with a great sense of humour.”
She said his close-knit family from nearby Ashford, Surrey, would be devastated.
Neighbours described him as a “lovely, polite lad” who was regularly seen riding his bike in the area.
“He was often in here and would be with his big brother,” said a shopkeeper nearby.
“He was always so polite and a really lovely lad. I just can’t believe what has happened.”
“He was a good polite boy. Fourteen is no age to die.”
A friend from primary school who laid flowers at the scene with her aunt told the Mirror: “He was a kind, caring boy. He was always nice to everyone.”
One message taped to a fence with a bouquet at Chertsey station said: “So sorry life wasn’t kinder to you sweetheart. RIP Angel.”
Another read: “RIP little man find your happiness in heaven.”
An eyewitness from Monday's tragedy said he as waiting for the train when it suddenly stopped at the platform while dozens of students looked on.
He told the Mirror: “Half of them were in shock and half of them were sobbing. It was horrific.”
A passenger who was on the train told how pupils were looking under the train calling out “Sam, Sam” after the incident.
The passenger, named only as Lewis, 28, of Weybridge, was onboard the train from Chiswick.
He said: “The train stopped very suddenly with only one carriage alongside the platform. I thought maybe one of the kids had dropped their phone as they were all looking down at the wheels of the carriage.
“We saw some of the girls starting to cry; we saw some of the boys leaning down, literally on their knees, calling down between the train and the tracks, calling "Sam, Sam".'
“That's when we realised something was wrong. There was a girl on phone, crying, trying to talk to the driver.”
He added: “They were all looking down, whatever they saw must have been horrific.”
A nearby sweet shop worker said teachers came running down to the scene following the tragedy.
Counsellors have been brought in to the secondary school to support students, while police and teaches lined the station as pupils travelled to and from school.
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