High-speed trains in China don’t waste time having around in stations, usually just 2 minutes. Great drama, horror and ultimately relief were therefore the result when a baby, quick on its feet, managed to fall between the platform and a train about to depart.
The alarming incident took place on 2 July in Changzhou of our very own Jiangsu Province. At 19:54, a high-speed train was stopped at the platform of Changzhou Railway Station, when a 1-year old baby suddenly ran towards it.
Giving chase, its parents failed to catch up. All that could then be heard was the sound of cries from the train track below.
With station staff quickly alerting the driver not to start the train on its way, the immediate danger was over. But as we all know, the space between the platform and the train is very narrow, hardly enough for a fully grown adult to fit between.
But not all all full-grown adults. That’s where Changzhou station staff, Jiang Lijun, came in. Just happening to be on the platform at the time, Jiang realised that she was “petite”, as the Yangtze Evening News puts it.
She therefore wasted no time in squeezing into the gap, kneeling down by the track under the train and taking the baby in her arms.
Speaking after the drama, Jiang said, “I didn’t think so much when I jumped down. At that time, the baby couldn’t stand up and was crying all the time. I just wanted to pull the baby up as soon as possible”.
When it was all over, Jiang had taken just 35 seconds to get down to the track and then complete her heroic rescue.
The entire incident, from surveillance camera footage showing the toddler rushing across the platform and falling under the train, to the actual real-time rescue, can be watched via this link.
Relevant personnel at Changzhou Railway Station said that Jiang will be awarded for her rescue. Jiang herself will likely be reminding herself to “stay petite”.
