A female driver has miraculously escaped a collision with a passenger train in Adelaide’s inner suburb of Black Forest.
The woman reportedly panicked before driving into the path of the oncoming train at the intersection of South and Cross roads at about 3.30pm on Wednesday.
Her Mercedes car was struck on its right-hand side by a train, which was heading south on the city’s Seaford line, before it was dragged for up to 50 metres, Nine News reports.
Paramedics, a medical retrieval team and firefighters worked to extract the woman who was trapped inside the vehicle.
She was then taken by ambulance to the Flinders Medical Centre where she was treated for isolated abdominal injuries, according to ambulance officer, David Dewar.
‘It’s just been a particularly difficult extrication,’ he said.
A witness who rushed to the woman’s aid also retrieved a dog from inside the car, saying: ‘the train had hit the car and I saw things flying out of it…and then I ran up to the car, opened the door and she was conscious,’ she said.
‘And I just grabbed the dog and gave it to someone else.’
A female driver has miraculously escaped a collision with a passenger train after she reportedly panicked and drove into its path at a busy Adelaide intersection
Her Mercedes car was struck on its right-hand side before being dragged for up to 50 metres
There were multiple passengers aboard the train at the time of the incident, including school children, who were removed via a ladder.
Some explained the moments leading up to the collision, saying the driver’s car had become stuck under a boom gate, causing her to panic and drive forward, the Advertiser reports.
Passengers also said the train driver sounded the horn multiple times before hitting the brakes and crashing into the car.
Paramedics, a medical retrieval team and firefighters worked to extract the woman who was trapped inside the vehicle
One of the train riders recalled a loud noise on impact before hearing the driver swear.
The accident caused major disruptions to the evening’s public transport service, with both Seaford and Tonsley lines closed in both directions.
The car was towed Wednesday evening and Seaford services recommenced at about 7.30pm at the completion of a federal safety investigation.
The accident caused major disruptions to the evening’s public transport service, closing Seaford and Tonsley lines in both directions until 7.30pm