A wheelchair-bound woman who was hit by a freight train in
Auckland yesterday (Mon) remains in a critical condition.
Three people rushed to help the woman when her electric
wheelchair became stuck on the railway crossing in
Morningside just after 9am.
Passerby Matthieu Mereau and two women desperately pulled the
woman out of the path of the train, but her chair was hit by
the train and she was dragged along the ground.
She was taken to Auckland Hospital suffering critical
injuries.
Mr Mereau said they tried to move the woman but there was
nothing they could do until the very, very last second when
the train was almost upon them.
The woman had a screen and a keypad on her lap and looked
like she was strapped in.
"I didn't know if I had time to undo clips or anything ... It
was the whole chair or nothing ... literally the train was
coming round the corner," the 24-year-old told the Herald.
The wheelchair was jammed in the tracks, so all he and the
jogger could do was push it over.
All three collapsed backwards as the train roared by. The
woman was dragged by her wheelchair - which had been hit by
the train - along the concrete, while the one of the women
rescuers was left bleeding from a leg injury as she fell
clear.
Police and KiwiRail have launched an investigation into the
incident.
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