A CHILD’S life was saved by quick-thinking railway staff who rushed to help after seeing the toddler fall while getting off a train at Ealing Broadway.
The incident happened at 8.15pm on Thursday on platform 4 when the child, aged two and a half, travelling with grandparents, was trying to step off the train but slipped between the platform edge and the side of the train, getting stuck in the process.
In the anxious few moments that followed, security operative Tony Nam – who was standing on the platform at the time – shouted to MTR Crossrail employee Laura Norris-Andrews that the child was trapped.
She instructed him to do two vital things: raise his arms and get someone to call the controlling signaller to ensure the train did not move.
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Meanwhile, Crossrail employee Amrita Paunikar, who was on platform three at the time, rushed to the control room, called the controlling signaller to get a block put on the line and phoned an ambulance, in case of serious injury.
The child, who was unharmed, was pulled to safety by grandparents, customers and staff.
Crossrail HR Director Alison Bell said: “All railway staff are trained to deal with heart-in-the-mouth emergency situations such as this. You just never know when the worst may happen.
“Our team worked so fast they couldn’t even tell us which gender the child was because the incident was over so promptly!”
The passengers declined the ambulance and made their own way home, while the was delayed for only 13 minutes.
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