Witnesses tell of moment girl, 3, fell into gap between Tube and platform at Baker Street

 
Incident: the girl apparently fell between a Tube train and the platform at Baker Street (Picture: Christopher Moss)
Ben Morgan13 April 2015

Witnesses today described dramatic scenes as a terrified toddler fell through the gap while trying to board a tube at one of London’s busiest stations.

The three-year-old girl been standing with her nanny and a younger child on platform two at Baker Street station when she tumbled between the platform and waiting train.

She is believed to have been trying to board a northbound Metropolitan Line service whose doors opened while “her carer’s back was turned” at 4pm yesterday.

Passengers hoisted the frightened child back onto the platform where she was given a check-up by station staff. She reportedly suffered a bruised forehead after hitting her head on a metal plate.

Station staff called for a taxi to take her to hospital. It is not thought she suffered any other injuries and was said to be in “good spirits”.

The platform, one of ten in one in central London’s oldest station, has a pronounced curve which creates a gap when a train pulls in.

A witness said: “The little girl was waiting with an adult and another smaller child and was getting ready to board the train.

“There’s a gap on the platform where the track bends around and she fell into that gap. Some gaps are big enough for me to fit in.

“The girl was fine. She was lifted onto the platform by customers. She was taken away in a taxi just after 4pm.”

London Underground operations director Steve White said: “A young girl fell between a train and the platform at Baker Street station.

“An investigation is underway but it seems that while her carer’s back was turned, the girl stepped into the gap between the platform and train.

“The train was stationary throughout and the girl was pulled out straight away. Our staff made sure that she was taken to hospital as a precaution.”

An internal report said the girl bruised her forehead after her head hit the metal plate at the bottom of the train.

It comes days after after a 28-year-old woman escaped serious injury despite being dragged several feet by a tube train when her zip became caught at Clapham South at rush hour on Thursday morning.

Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) leader Mick Cash described the incident as: “shocking”.

He said: “Once again, RMT warned that there were dangerous gaps between the platforms and the trains with this rolling stock.

“This incident again exposes the lethal nonsense of cutting station staff on the underground network.”

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