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.
