Child almost falls through train's missing toilet floor

It was a close shave for a small boy in the UK who almost fell from a moving train carriage on the track below as the toilet floor was missing. Timely action from his mother saved the child.

His mother took him to the toilet on the Totnes Riverside to Buckfastleigh train in Devon but she managed to catch him before he fell, a BBC report said.

The 13:00 BST steam train was travelling at about 20mph (32 km/h). South Devon Railway (SDR) runs it and the incident happened on June 22.

The floor was removed for repairs to the carriage's brakes but had not been replaced, investigators revealed.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said when the mother opened the door, she saw the floor of the compartment missing, exposing the carriage wheels below.

The woman reported the matter to the train guard and the door was locked. The boy suffered minor bruising, the report said.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) also launched a probe into the incident.

SDR said in a statement: "On the day in question, something clearly went wrong with our safety control and hazard monitoring systems as evidenced by the incident having taken place - it simply should not have happened."

Source: Khaleej Times