A two-year-old rode alone for four stations as train doors closed before his mom

The event took place on Thursday (Dec. 12), shortly before 6 p.m. The Katowice-Racibórz train operated by Koleje Śląskie arrived at the station at 5:48 p.m. Passengers began disembarking, and about 30 seconds after the first passenger stepped off - and 20 seconds after the last - a woman appeared in the doorway.

According to TVN24 reporter Małgorzata Marczok, the woman had initially tried to exit through a different set of doors that wouldn’t open, forcing her to relocate to another section of the train. The video shows her son standing near the doorway.

As the woman sets the stroller down on the platform, the train doors close, leaving her child inside.

Though the camera was positioned some distance from the platform, you can hear a scream of "No!" The footage also shows the frantic mother waving her arms in an attempt to stop the train, then running after it along the platform.

As we reported on Monday, the woman immediately dialed the emergency number 112, and the dispatcher connected her with the Wodzisław Śląski police.

Officers contacted railway security (SOK), who in turn alerted train dispatchers and the train conductor where the boy remained. Before the train reached the fourth station, located in Sumina, authorities had already located the child. Around ten minutes after the incident, the train was halted and waited for police and the parents to arrive and collect their son.

Simultaneously, passengers onboard raised the alarm. "They informed the train conductor that a child had been left behind without its mother and also called 112," said Bartłomiej Wnuk, spokesperson for Koleje Śląskie.

The ordeal ended happily, though the train incurred a 35-minute delay while waiting for the family’s arrival.

"The conductor of the train reported that the passenger disembarked with the stroller at the Rydułtowy station and displayed no behavior indicating distress or urgency," Bartłomiej Wnuk explains.

"Following procedure, the conductor gave the all-clear signal for departure. Only later did the passenger realize that her child wasn’t in the stroller. By then, the doors were locked, and the train had already departed," he added.

Monika Komaszewska, spokesperson for the Railway Protection Guard (SOK), advises calling their dedicated emergency hotline at 22 474 0000 in similar situations.

"This ensures a faster response," she explained. "The hotline works nationwide, and our officers are present at every station. They know the terrain, have direct contacts with dispatchers, and can communicate with train conductors."