Teenage Girl Pushed To Safety By Her First Love As The Young Couple Was Hit By A Train Killing Her 16 Year Old Boyfriend As They Walked To A High School Dance

Young love: This photo of Mateus Moore and Mickayla friend was taken just minutes before the young couple was hit by a train

A 16-year-old girl is alive but in critical condition after she and her young boyfriend were hit by a train as they walked to a high school dance together at a school in northern California.

Sadly, Mickayla Friend's 16-year-old boyfriend, Mateus Moore - who her family describes as her 'first love' - didn't survive. And according to witnesses, Friend may have been killed as well had Moore not pushed her out of the way at the very last second, keeping her from getting pinned underneath the train.

It remains unclear why the teens didn't hear the train's horn when it sounded as it was bearing down on them as they walked down the tracks. It's also unclear what they were doing on the tracks at all - according to witnesses, the couple was walking to grab a bite to eat before heading into the dance, but authorities aren't sure why they chose to walk on the tracks rather than take the road.

Both victims initially were named by Fox40.com , however no official identification has been made by law enforcement officials in Marysville -- about 70 miles north of Sacramento - where the incident took place.

'It's her first boyfriend, and her first love,' Friend's sister, Alithya Friend, told KCRA.com . 'And she just got it taken away from her in an instant.'

Alithya confirmed to the station that her sister was the teen injured by the train, and says Mickayla currently is in critical condition at Sutter Roseville Medical Center just outside of Sacramento after she was hit by the train about 7 p.m. Friday.

Alithya also says she snapped a photo of the happy couple just minutes before they left for the dance.

First love: Family members called Moore Friend's 'first love' who was 'taken away in an instant'

'You can't imagine getting the worst call in your life, knowing that you just dropped your sister off to go to a dance that was supposed to be a special, amazing night for her and her boyfriend of a year,' Alithya said. 'And then you get a call that says he's deceased and she's in critical condition.'

Sean Stark witnessed the incident and credits Moore with saving his girlfriend's life.

'The engineer was on the horn,' Stark told KCRA. 'Then finally, they both looked back at the same time.'

Then, Stark says, Moore made a split-second decision that may have saved his girlfriend's life.

'They would have both been underneath that train if he didn't push her out of the way at the last second,' said Stark.

The incident occurred just steps from a game on a packed Little League field.

Moore died at the scene and Friend was airlifted to hospital with traumatic injuries, a fire department spokesperson said.

Horrifying: Emergency personnel work at the scene of a train accident where two pedestrians where one teen was killed and nother critically injured after being hit by a train

The accident happened around 7.00 p.m., and in front of dozens of horrified onlookers scrambling to shield their children from the traumatizing scene, according to the Appeal- Democrat .

Parents attending the game raced towards the tracks fearing one of their own had been hit, Marysville Little League Secretary Diane Washburn told the paper.

'It wasn't one of our kids, just get back,' she recalled telling the swelling crowd, adding that her next priority was keeping children from seeing what had happened. 'Once they see that, that can't be unseen.'

People who were at the game told the Marysville Appeal-Democrat they heard a long blowing of the train's horn, much longer than usual.