Image caption Memorials for Miguel Martinez were laid at the feet of the bull statue on which he was impaled

A US teenager has died after being impaled by the horn of a bull statue on a Texas university campus.

Miguel Martinez was fatally wounded in the chest before dawn on Saturday morning in a park near the National Ranching Heritage Center, at Texas Tech University in the city of Lubbock.

He is believed to have tripped while playing hide-and-seek with four other children. They were accompanied by two adults at the time.

Police are investigating the death.

The boy's mother, Judith Leseberg, told CBS affiliate KCBD: "He just happened to trip over one of the lights. I guess he lost his balance and he went straight down on one of the horns.

"It's hard for all of us. No mother expects this to happen to their child."

The university said it would review its policies, practices and facilities to determine if any changes needed to be made to prevent a reoccurrence of such an incident.