(04/28/08) STRATFORD ? A 14-year-old boy was struck and killed by a town public works truck in Stratford Monday morning, according to police.

The incident took place at about 7:30 a.m. on East Main Street at Wilcoxson Avenue. Police say Carlos Prada, an eighth-grader at Flood Middle School, was struck by a town public works truck carrying a wood chipper. Although he was alive at the scene, Prada died about an hour later at Bridgeport Hospital during emergency surgery.

Friends and neighbors say the boy was on his way to the bus stop when he was hit.

Stratford School Superintendent Irene Cornish said Prada?s death is difficult for everyone to deal with.

?We?re all having a great deal of difficulty thinking about that you send your child to school in the morning and then don?t see him alive again,? Cornish said.

Grief counselors will be available all this week at Flood Middle School, school officials said.

Police say it will likely be a long and intensive investigation into Prada?s death.