German officials refuse to stop train after mother realises her daughter, 2, is still on board... in case express is late


Terrified: Deutsche Bahn staff refused to try and stop a train at Pritzwalk station after a mother realised her two-year-old daughter was still onboard

Terrified: Deutsche Bahn staff refused to try and stop a train at Pritzwalk station after a mother realised her two-year-old daughter was still onboard

German railways officials refused to stop an express train after a mother realised she had left her two-year-old daughter on board, in case it was late.

Marie Luise Krach, two was forced to sit alone as the train sped through the countryside near Berlin for an hour while a police car raced to catch it up.

Her mother, Ulrike Kracht, 19, had pleaded with Deutsche Bahn staff to somehow stop the train after its automatic doors closed at a station.

She was unloading her possessions and pushchair before returning for Marie Luise when her way was blocked and the train began pulling away.

Ms Kracht said she had spent the weekend with her daughter at her grandmother's near Berlin and was returning to Pritzwalk.

She said: 'I was getting my things out of the station at the stop when the doors suddenly closed with my daughter inside.

'It was the worst moment of my life. I heard Marie Luise shout "mama!" and she was gone.'

She said two male German railway employees banged frantically on the doors to try and get them to open, but without success.

But when she asked them to radio ahead to stop the train, she claims they said: 'We can't do that. It must run on schedule.'

A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn said: 'There was no train coming back in the other direction anyway because of a strike.'

Desperate: The automatic doors on the train had shut, but staff said they could not force it to stop in case the express service was late

Desperate: The automatic doors on the train had shut, but staff said they could not force it to stop in case the express service was late

The child was alone for an hour until the train stopped in Neurippin.

Unknown to the terrified little girl, her mother was in a police car racing through the countryside with its lights and sirens blaring to get to the station before the train left again.

Ms Kracht added: 'I was all right until I saw her and then the tears came and she started crying then too.

'I don't know if anyone was in the train looking after her - she was alone when we got there.

'I find it completely irresponsible that someone didn't stop the train for me.'

Deutsche Bahn has promised to hold an investigation.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now