Shock as man survives jumping under train at Warminster (From This Is Wiltshire)

Shock as man survives jumping under train at Warminster

10:30am Friday 22nd January 2010 in

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A railway station worker has described the moment a 50-year-old Warminster man calmly lit a cigarette just minutes after throwing himself in front of a train in an apparent failed suicide attempt.

Gary Collins, who works for First Great Western and was in the ticket office at Warminster station at the time, said despite the man being hit by the train, he managed to get himself up onto some steps and back onto the platform.

Train services around Warminster were severely disrupted after the dramatic incident at 2.20pm last Thursday.

The man jumped onto the track in front of the Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads service, run by South West Trains, as it pulled into the station.

Mr Collins said: “The guy was stood waiting for the train and then just jumped in front of it as it was coming into the station. The train would have probably been going about 15 or 20 miles per hour.

“He went under a couple of carriages and then somehow got himself up, sat on the stairs and lit up a cigarette.

“I saw him walking around afterwards. He had cuts on his hands, face and neck, and was being checked over by ambulance staff.

“There was a conductor on the opposite platform, platform two, and she saw him jump. She’s quite shaken up about it and has been off work.

“I’ve heard of this happening at stations I work at, but it’s not happened when I’ve been there.”

Derek Jones, 54, from Westbury, is a driver for DJs Taxis, based at Warminster station.

He said: “There was a group of people just standing on the platform and I thought this train isn’t moving. Then all these police cars started turning up.

“The services were there so quickly and the station staff knew exactly what they were doing. He was obviously distressed. He was talking to himself about voices in his head getting louder and louder.”

British Transport Police said the man suffered minor injuries and was taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath for treatment. As a result of the incident trains were stopped between Salisbury and Westbury stations for a while, affecting services run by both South West Trains and First Great Western.

British Transport Police have launched an investigation into the incident but no arrests or charges have been made so far.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is being asked to call the British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40, quoting log reference 265 of 14/01/2010.