Train follows barefoot boy on tracks for 3 km
Published: 28 May 12 17:43 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/41094/20120528/
An autistic boy who was found walking on train tracks in central Sweden was followed by a train for three kilometres before he was finally helped off the tracks.
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“Train drivers sounded the alarm on the line between Jönköping and Värnamo after seeing a boy walking in front of the train,” said Göran Gunnarsson of the Ekeryd police to SR.
Train travellers who wanted to get off the train to help the boy were prevented from doing so by train staff members, who explained that it was against regulations to open the train doors mid-route.
In addition, train staff were unable to get the 11-year-old’s attention.
One of the passengers was told that the train doors could not be opened while the train was in motion.
The boy allegedly threw stones at the moving train and occasionally became so tired that he sat on the tracks and rested while the train waited.
It was more than 50 minutes after the alarm was raised that the boy was safely taken off the tracks.
Police claim the rescue took so long due to the inaccessibility of the particular stretch of tracks where the boy was found, telling SR that no roads lead to anywhere near that stretch.
The boy had left an outing with his family and somehow found his way up onto the rails, according to SR.
Passengers complained that it was “terrible” that they weren’t allowed to help, yet the county transport authority Länstrafiken has stood by decision, claiming personnel on the train acted appropriately.
“It’s forbidden to let out travelers on the tracks due to the risk of accidents. Especially when the matter concerns a person who is disabled. Luckily, nothing happened,” said Carl-Johan Sjöberg of the regional train operator Länstrafiken to SR.
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Stop the train, get out, help the kid. How difficult can it be?
Sjöberg takes the prize for the most inane excuse of the month. If I understand the moron correctly, he is trying to tell us that it is not allowed to let people off the train, but this is even more not allowed "when the matter concerns a person who is disabled". Huh? What? Come again?
A society that has somehow overidden this most basic instinct should ask itself how it came to sink so low, and what it can do to restore the proper human values necessary for it to function in a civilised way.
Until Sweden, Länstrafiken and the individuals who left the boy in peril can admit there is a serious problem with themselves, and Swedish society, and take steps do something about it, Sweden will be a less and less pleasant place to live.
Heartless, sick society.
Its for real. If you think this is bad, then how about this:
Some years ago, a disgruntled guy rang on his ex-girlfriends doorbell in an apartment building in a local town. When she opened the door, he stabbed her, and then himself. A neighbor heard the commotion, opened the door, and saw both lying on the landing in pools of blood. He called the police, who decided to call in a SWAT team, because the suspect was "armed and dangerous". The fire department was also summoned to evactuate the other residents with ladders. By the time the SWAT team arrived, the suspect and his victim had both bled to death.
When this man is identified, someone should pay for the train crew and Carl-Johan Sjöberg of Länstrafiken to meet his family and learn from them as much as they can about what it takes to be a decent human being. Because right now, they are clearly not very decent people at all, and I would feel neither comfortable nor safe in their care.
Similarly we had an incident recently where the firemen wouldnt walk onto a pond to rescue something without completing a risk assessment. Whilst they were doing this, a passer by waded in. The water was about 60 cm deep.
From how I read the article, I do not think the boy's life was in danger once they noticed him and the proper authorities were called. To exaggerate the situation is not gonna help anything!!
PS: My own personal note...As fun as the UK is, I would not want to live there.