A 17-year-old boy escaped with just cuts and a bruise after a train ran over him in Iowa.

Des Moines Police said the teen was drunk and passed out on the tracks at about 10:45 p.m. Sunday, reported the Des Moines Register newspaper.

Train engineers applied the emergency brakes when they realized a person was on the railway tracks, but ran over him before coming to a halt.

The boy told police he was drinking at a music festival and didn't remember passing out on the tracks.

He was treated in hospital for two cuts on the back of his head and a bruise on his right thigh.

Police said the teen faces trespassing and public drunkenness charges.