Baby in stroller survives train collision
Last Updated: Friday, October 16, 2009 | 9:34 PM ET
CBC News
Security video footage shows a baby stroller suddenly rolling off the edge of a station platform and onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train in Melbourne, Australia. The baby boy survived with only minor injuries. (Connex/Associated Press)A six-month-old baby in Australia escaped serious injury after his stroller rolled onto the tracks and was hit by an arriving train on Thursday afternoon.
The stroller and child were pushed 40 metres along the tracks as the train driver activated emergency brakes. Miraculously, the baby suffered only minor injuries.
Security video footage released Friday showed the child's mother taking her hands off the stroller and looking away for a moment as the stroller suddenly rolls off the edge of the platform at Ashburton station in Melbourne.
The mother and two other women on the platform rush to stop the stroller but are too late, and a moment later the train hits the stroller. Commuters on the platform are then seen rushing to the front of the train to lend aid.
Victoria state police Sgt. Michael Ferwerda said the incident was a "lucky escape" and warned that people should be cautious in train stations.
The accident comes a day after train operator Connex and Kidsafe Australia launched an ad campaign on child safety awareness, issuing a news release offering tips for locking stroller wheels and making sure children are properly strapped in.
Kidsafe Australia spokesman Dr. Mark Stokes told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the restraints on the stroller likely saved the child's life.
"The child was strapped in," said Stokes. "Had the child not been strapped in when the train did connect with the pram, the child would have been dislodged from the pram and possibly rolled over by the train," he said.
With files from the Associated Press, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
