Boy, 7, killed in steam engine accident at museum The boy's father was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham. It is understood that the boy who died is seven years old. Durham Police confirmed that the boy is from the County Durham area. Inspector Stephen Dowdle of Durham Police said: "Police are investigating the death of a child at Beamish museum this afternoon. Police were called to the museum by the ambulance service just before 3pm. A seven year old boy had been involved in an incident with a steam traction engine and trailer and had been pronounced dead at the scene. He appeared to have suffered serious head injuries. The engine driver was taken to hospital suffering from shock. He will be spoken to by police at an appropriate time and is being treated as a witness. The identities of those involved are not being released, but it is understood that neither of them were visitors to the museum. Detectives and road policing officers are at the scene to establish exactly what took place. The Health and Safety Executive is also at the scene and this will be a joint investigation. Richard Evans, Museum Director at Beamish, said in a statement: "We are naturally very shocked and our thoughts are with the boy's family at this time. We took the immediate decision to close the museum for the rest of the day as we support the joint investigation. Police are seeking witnesses to the actual incident.