Father remembered for "instinctive act of bravery" before train tragedy
A family outing has ended in tragedy when a pram carrying twin girls rolled onto the train tracks at Carlton railway station in Sydney.
CCTV footage showed the family heading off on their outing just several minutes before tragedy struck.
They were walking down the footpath, with the father holding the pram and the mother pulling a trolley bag, before waiting to cross the road to the train station.
The parents had arrived on the platform via an elevator and taken their hands off the pram for a "very, very short period of time" when it began to roll, according to NSW Police Superintendent Paul Dunstan.
The 40-year-old father is being remembered for his bravery, after he jumped onto the tracks to try and save his twin daughters.
Horrified witnesses also tried to flag the train down, but unfortunately it was too late. Emergency services were called to the station at around 12:25 pm.
The father and one of the two-year-old girls were killed, and the girls' mother who witnessed the accident unfold was left "incredibly traumatised" according to the Superintendent.
Dunstan told reporters several hours after the tragedy that responding officers could hear crying from underneath the train.
“Police climbed under the train and rescued one of the children, who was thankfully unharmed, and reunited her with the mother," Dunstan said.
“Sadly, the other child, a two-year-old female, and her father who attempted to save the child, have passed away as a result of this incident.”
“Whether it’s a gust of wind ... we’re not quite sure. But it appears that the pram has instantly started to roll in the direction of the train lines.”
The father has been praised for his "brave and heroic" act.
“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,” Dunstan said.
The other daughter, who had survived, had fallen between the tracks and was "lucky" to have escaped injury, Dunstan added.
The train was heading from Cronulla to the City and wasn't due to stop at Carlton.
A police investigation is underway and the National Rail Safety Regulator had also been informed.
Premier Chris Minns described the incident as a “terrible, terrible tragedy”.
“This is a very confronting and sad day for the St George community,” he said.
“I hope over time they can gain some small solace knowing that 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 in the face of a terrible, terrible accident, he gave his own life to try and save his children.”
Images: Channel 9