By DPA,
Sydney: Australians were aghast Friday at security camera footage that shows a young mother watching in horror as a pram with her six-month-old baby rolls off a Melbourne train platform and is dragged 30 metres up the track.
Miraculously, the baby survived Thursday’s accident with only a bump to his head.
The footage shows the pram rolling off the platform and landing upside down just as the train arrives. The locomotive ploughs into the pram, pushing it 30 metres along the tracks.
Paramedics said that the baby survived because it was strapped into the pram.
The amazing tale of survival came the day after the launch of a railway safety programme urging those with prams to apply the brake when they were on station platforms waiting for trains – to avoid just such an eventuality.
Police spokesman Sergeant Michael Ferwerda said the mother was not culpable but the close shave was a reminder to be careful at train stations.
“It’s amazing how many people get too close to the tracks despite the dangers,” he told reporters. “We’ve had a lucky escape and it is a chance for commuters to heed warnings to be more careful.”