Man falls onto tracks near Britomart, witness describes ‘massive explosion’

One witness has described the terrifying moment when a man received an electric shock and then fell on the train tracks near the tunnel at Auckland’s Britomart train station.

The incident occurred around 9.45pm on Friday and the man was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

Susan Frost was walking her Chihuahua when she says she saw the man walk off a bridge across the tracks and walk sideways along the edge.

“I thought he was going to … jump on the roof of a train, but a train passed and he didn’t,” he told the Herald.

“I saw him swinging on the wire … the next thing was a massive explosion.”

He said it sounded like fireworks had been set off. “That’s how bad it was.”

Then it fell onto the tracks, he said.

Witnesses rushed to alert station staff to stop the trains, he said. They also called 111.

Frost said he thought there was “no way” the man would have survived the impact and fall, as his legs and body lay “twisted” on the tracks.

He could see burns on his back and neck, and he said his shirt was ripped.

But then it started to move.

“I couldn’t believe it when he moved in,” he said.

“He tried to get up, but he kept collapsing … I don’t think he even knew where he was.”

He said it took a while for emergency services to reach him.

“At 10:30 they still hadn’t come down to see him … you could tell he was badly burned.”

On Friday, police said that after the incident, trains were stopped and power to airlines was cut so that emergency services could attend to the man near the station tunnel around 9.45pm last night.

“Initial investigations indicate that he received an electric shock while trying to cross the tracks,” police said.