An eleven-year-old girl fell onto the tracks at Vienna’s U3 subway station Kardinal-Nagl-Platz shortly before 8:00 a.m. on Friday and saved herself in the emergency niche under the platform edge just before an incoming train. According to emergency services, she was unharmed except for abrasions from the fall. Before the accident, the girl had been absorbed in her phone on the platform and fell onto the tracks “just before a subway entered the station,” reported Wiener Linien.
Alert passengers reacted immediately and activated the emergency stop. The train driver also initiated an emergency brake. Thanks to the quick escape into the safety niche provided for such incidents, there was no contact with the train, Wiener Linien explained.
After the train was secured and the power switched off, the girl was pulled out of the niche, said fire department spokesman Gerald Schimpf in response to an APA inquiry. She was found about ten meters past the front of the train and safely brought back onto the platform. Vienna’s emergency services then transported her to a hospital as a precaution.
Important knowledge for emergencies
Wiener Linien issued an “urgent appeal to all passengers: Please stay alert on the platform and do not let yourself be endangered by cell phones or other distractions. Do not hesitate to press the train’s emergency stop in an emergency—in case of doubt, it is an emergency!”
Passenger safety is the top priority. Together with the police, Wiener Linien’s prevention team regularly visits schools, senior residences, as well as events and trade fairs across Vienna to provide information about safety in public transport and to answer questions. “Today’s incident showed how important this knowledge can be in an emergency,” the statement continued. The eleven-year-old knew about the safety niche and reacted quickly and correctly.
