Dad, toddler dead after pram falls on train tracks in Carlton
Written by admin on July 21, 2024
Police have praised the “heroic and brave” actions of a dad after a pram carrying his twin daughters rolled onto train tracks, leaving the 40-year-old and one of the two-year-old girls dead.
Emergency services were called to Carlton Railway Station at around 12.25pm on Sunday following reports a pram carrying two children had rolled from the platform onto the tracks, NSW Police said.
The father and one of his two-year-old girl were killed, while her two-year-old sister and the 39-year-old mother were not injured and are being assessed by paramedics.
The father had been attempting to rescue his children from the tracks when he was struck.
“Two to three minutes after a triple-0 call was made, NSW police were on scene and were able to grab one of the survivors, a young girl a two-year-old from the scene and keep her safe and out of harm’s way,” NSW Premier Chris Minns told reporters at a news conference outside St George Police Station in Kogarah.
“This is a terrible terrible tragedy … Obviously this is a very confronting and sad day for the St George community and obviously for that family from the Kogarah area.”
Mr Minns praised the father for his heroic actions.
“The father died from an extraordinary instinctive act of bravery, that’s not going to bring him or his little daughter back but it shouldn’t go unremarked upon that in the face of a terrible terrible accident he gave his own life to try to save his children,” he said.
Witnesses saw a pram roll under the path of a train and called police, when they arrived they were able to located the pram and heard crying.
“Police and other emergency services responded quickly and saw the pram under the train, they could hear crying from underneath the train,” St George Police Area Commander Detective Superintendent Paul Dunstan said.
“Police then climbed under the train and rescued one of the children who was thankfully unharmed, and reunited her with her mother.
“Sadly the other child, a two-year-old female, and her father who had attempted to save the child, have passed away as a result of this incident.”
He said the family had caught the lift down to the platform and it appeared they took their hands off the pram for a very short period of time. At that moment, it appeared the pram had rolled towards the train lines, one line on enquiry will be whether it had rolled due to a wind gust.
“He’s gone into parent mode and tried to save his two young daughters that have fallen onto the tracks and in doing so it’s cost his life, but it’s an incredibly brave and heroic act,” he said.
The other daughter had fallen between the tracks and was “lucky” to have escaped injury, police said.
Passengers were evacuated 20 minutes later.
A fire and rescue crew were seen jumping onto the train tracks to start the process of removing the bodies from under the train, more than two hours after the tragedy struck.
Officers attached to St George Police Area Command have established a crime scene.
“The incident is not believed to be suspicious at this time,” NSW Police said.
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“A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.”
The public has been urged to avoid the area and replacement buses have been deployed.
Commuters should visit the Transport for NSW website for the most up-to-date information.
