A train conductor in Poland has been hailed internationally as a hero after footage of him running through the train he was driving warning passengers of an unavoidable collision with a lorry was shared all over the Internet. Mateusz Szymanski has been lauded for his quick thinking in the face of a dangerous situation and has been credited for saving passengers from severe injuries.
CCTV footage from the train captured the crash and how it impacted passengers on the route from Wagroweic to Poznan in western Poland.
The train, which was travelling down the tracks at 110kmh, came around a bend when Szymanski spotted a truck stuck across the train line. With only three seconds to react before an inevitable collision, he immediately pulled the emergency brakes before running through the carriages to warn passengers to brace for an impact.
The train proceeds to crash straight into the lorry, smashing the glass windscreen at the front of the carriage and causing €160,000 worth of damage.
While the accident took place on April 19th, several news websites helped spread the story around the world over the past few days.
Speaking to the Polish TV broadcaster, Syzmanski was quick to praise the passengers on board the train for reacting to his warnings without any hesitation, saying this is largely why no major injuries were sustained in the collision.
“The passengers reacted in the right way,” he told TVN. “”They got on the floor on command immediately.”
You can see footage from the crash, along with Syzmanski's quick reaction, below:
