Heart-stopping moment child falls between train and platform at Sydney station
Heart-stopping footage has captured the moment a child fell between the platform and a train at a busy Sydney station.
The four-year-old boy is seen on the platform at Sydenham station in Sydney’s inner west with his mother, who is wheeling a pram and carrying a baby.
As they attempt to board the train, the boy missteps and falls straight between the train and platform.
The mother rushes along the platform, raising her arms, as shocked onlookers leap into action to retrieve him and alert the driver before the train departs.
The CCTV footage, captured in February, is being released to warn parents and carers to be extra vigilant these coming school holidays.
‘Hold your child’s hand around trains’
Minister for Transport and Roads Andrew Constance on Tuesday said in the past 12 months there were almost 200 children injured across the Sydney train network.
“School holidays are naturally an exciting time for many families, but sadly it is also a time when the number of accidents on the network dramatically increases,” Mr Constance said in a statement.
“Regrettably, a lot of those incidents were preventable and one child injured on the network is one too many,” he said.
“As a parent, I know how hard it can be to juggle travel with young children, but a simple thing such as holding your child’s hand when moving around stations and boarding a train can help prevent them from being seriously injured or worse.”
Mr Constance revealed the most common incidents involved children falling between the train and platform, followed by accidents involving Opal barriers and children slipping, tripping or falling around train stations.
Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins said over half the accidents occurred across Town Hall, Circular Quay and Central stations.
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