A man has survived clinging to the outside of a high-speed train in Austria after it left a station while he was having a cigarette on the platform. The incident occurred at St Poelten, west of Vienna, late on Saturday, according to Austrian railways spokesperson Herbert Hofer.
The man, a 24-year-old Algerian, grabbed on to the outside of the railjet train as it began to depart. He was later taken on board after the train's conductor activated the emergency brake, causing an emergency stop. The train was travelling from Zurich in Switzerland to Vienna and arrived with a seven-minute delay.
Mr Hofer criticised the man's actions, saying: “It is irresponsible, this kind of thing usually ends up with someone dying. And you're not just putting yourself in danger, if you end up under the train there's rescuers, there's police, fire service that come.”
Citing a passenger on board, Austrian tabloid Heute reported that the man jumped into the space between two carriages after the train began moving. He then banged on windows to attract attention, leading the conductor to stop the train. The passenger said the conductor “really had a very big go at him”.
The man was led away by police after the train arrived at Vienna's Meidling station. Railjet trains have a maximum speed of 230km/h, but it is not known how fast the train was moving while the man was clinging on. In January, a 40-year-old Hungarian man survived a similar incident after clinging to a German high-speed train for 32km, also after being left behind during a cigarette break.
