Last updated on August 27th, 2024 at 06:37 pm
A day out in Sydney had a disastrous turn for a family on Wednesday as a pram fell carrying twin girls onto the train tracks and their 40-year-old father tried to save them to his death. One of the two-year-old girls died, while the survival of the other girl trapped under a train at the Carlton railway station near Kogarah about 12:25 pm was nothing short of a miracle.
Mother Left Traumatised After Witnessing Horrific Accident
The girls’ mother, who was 39 years old and experienced the accident, was left “incredibly traumatised,” added NSW Police Superintendent Paul Dunstan. There was “a short second” where the parents had just taken their hands off the pram after getting off the lift on the platform for it to roll onto the track, said Dunstan.
Throughout all this, the father was trying to save his kids during a truly heroic act of bravery. While carrying his children to safety, police records show, the fatal collision occurred before he was able to pick up the pram. Police at the station acted fast as they frantically tried to locate the surviving child. The child was identified when her cries were heard from under the middle carriage of the train.
Security cameras caught the family in relaxed poses as they walked toward the station, mere moments before the accident. Eyewitness accounts described the ‘horrific’ scene: “The father jumped down to try and grab the children and the pram, and as he went to lift it onto the platform, the train came,” said one witness, Lauren Langelaar. Another witness, Grant Azzopardi, recalled a woman crying out for the train to stop.
Inquiry into Speed of Train and Circumstances
The train was bound from Cronulla to the City and was not scheduled to stop at Carlton. The incident is being investigated by the authorities concerned regarding the circumstances, including the speed of the train at the time of the accident. Dunstan mentioned that, miraculously, the unscathed body of the surviving girl was found between the tracks; a piece of good fortune within the bad news.
Surviving and Family Background of Survivors’ Present Condition
It was known that the family is from the St George Indian community and had moved to Australia just last year. His wife and the other surviving daughter are at St George Hospital.
Condolences from NSW Premier and Sydney Trains CEO
Residing near the scene himself, NSW Premier Chris Minns spoke to the media, extending condolences and thanks to emergency services for their professionalism in handling this “terrible, terrible tragedy.” He expressed that he passed on to them news of the father’s “extraordinary act of bravery.”
Sydney Trains Chief Executive Matt Longland also issued a statement of condolence, saying that while such incidents are thankfully very rare, when they do occur, the implications are truly awful. Train services resumed between Wolli Creek and Hurstville on the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line but all trains did not stop at Carlton station in the evening.
