UK - Cyclist Escapes Death By Seconds

[John Ashworth]

Cyclist Escapes Death By Seconds
Sky News Updated: 20:20, Wednesday October 03, 2007

A cyclist has managed to escape death after falling into the path of a train.

CCTV footage shows the man cycling into a station and weaving along one of the platforms.

But seconds later he loses his balance and falls onto the rails.

A terrified passenger runs to the platform edge to urge the man to jump to safety.

As he moves clear, a train hurtles past him, crushing the man's bike.

Amazingly, it was not the man's first brush with death that day.

Minutes earler he had been picked up by the cameras carrying his bike across the tracks, narrowly avoiding the high-voltage electric rails.

As he climbs onto the platform, he falls back onto the tracks, again just missing the electric rails.

Police said the man might have been under the influence of drink or drugs.

The incident happened at at Catford Bridge station in southeast London.

The train was put out of service after running over the bike.

A British Transport Police spokesman said: "The footage in this case is truly shocking.

"The man was possibly under the influence, but either way he was extremely foolhardy and was lucky he was not fatally injured.

"He is captured on CCTV riding his bike and then loses control of the bike and falls onto the tracks with the bike.

"He gets up and seconds later an incoming train arrives crushing his bike and resulting in the train being put out of service.

"The man is lucky to be alive. There are 750 volts of electricity running through the railways 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"There is no doubt this man cheated death."

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