A heroic father who died while trying to rescue his twin toddlers after their pram rolled onto the tracks at a Sydney train station has been identified.
Commuters watched on in horror as the pram, which was carrying two-year-old twins, rolled onto the railway tracks at Carlton train station in Sydney’s south at about 12.25pm on Sunday.
The twins’ father, Anand Runwal, 40, leaped down from the platform in a brave attempt to save them but a passing train struck and killed both the father and one of the twins.
Mr Runwal and his wife Poonam moved from India to Sydney with their twin daughters in October 2023 after he secured a job at an IT firm in North Sydney.
Witness Lauren Langelaar told Daily Mail how the surviving girl – who went under the train – had ‘hardly a scratch’ on her when she was eventually reunited with her distraught mother. The girl was released from hospital on Monday morning.
Ms Langelaar was working across the road when the tragedy unfolded. She ran to the platform after hearing the mother’s screams for help.
‘I ran out to help the mother because I could just hear her screaming while looking down onto the tracks,’ Ms Langelaar said.
‘It all happened very quickly. I was down on the platform helping the mother try and scream out to her children and husband under the train.’
Ms Langelaar said a Sydney Trains worker, who was on the platform, called emergency services and explained they could ‘only hear one child’ crying.
When police arrived, they told Ms Langelaar to hold the mother back while officers jumped onto the tracks.
Miraculously, one of the twin girls was pulled from underneath the train and escaped the accident ‘with hardly a scratch on her’.
‘As I sat her down, the little girl got pulled out of under the train with hardly a scratch on her, she was just crying,’ Ms Langelaar said.
She added the mum ‘begged’ paramedics to hand over her little girl so that she could hold her but was initially denied as they assessed the toddler’s injuries.
‘She refused at first for paramedics,to check her out, she just wanted to hold her [daughter],’ Ms Langelaar said.
‘Then she continued to yell out, ‘Where is my husband and other child?’.’
Ms Langelaar said paramedics continued to assess the little girl while she was in her mother’s arms as she ‘didn’t seem to be hurt’ and only had a ‘slight bump on the back of her head’.
The surviving toddler was taken to St George Hospital with her mum, who was on the platform when the accident occurred. The pair have since been discharged.
Ms Langelaar said one man attempted to wave down the driver to alert him to the danger, but was unsuccessful.
‘There was one man who apparently tried to wave the train down telling it to stop, but because it wasn’t meant to stop at that station it just had no chance,’ Ms Langelaar said.
NSW Police Superintendent Paul Dunstan said the parents appeared to have taken their hands off the pram for a ‘very short period of time’ when it rolled towards the tracks.
Mr Dunstan said police were investigating what caused the pram to roll and said it could have been something as simple as a ‘gust of wind’.
A school friend of Mr Runwal shared a touching tribute to social media.
‘Dear friends, it is with a heavy heart that I share the tragic news of the untimely passing of Anand Runwal ( From 1999 Batch) and his daughter,’ Sreyas Gopalakrishnan Thottarath said.
‘Our deepest condolences go out to their family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.’
NSW premier Chris Minns, who lives within 100m of the station, said the father died while performing an ‘extraordinary, instinctual act of bravery’.
‘He gave his own life to try and save his children,’ he said.
Mr Minns described the incident as a ‘terrible, terrible tragedy’ for the surviving family members and first responders.
The Premier did not rule out introducing new measures to train platforms to prevent similar tragedies from occurring.
‘We’ll work with NSW trains and police inquiries and if changes need to be made we’ll make them,’ he said.
‘It’s too early to say, but I don’t want to close the door on any changes we could make.
‘Train stations can be dangerous places and we all need to be cognisant of that.’
Sydney Trains CEO Matthew Longland said he did not want to speculate on the outcomes of the police investigation but claimed any recommendations to improve safety would be considered.
‘Our first priority is to support those involved and to work with the investigation to ensure we have all the appropriate facts so we can fully understand the incident,’ Mr Longland said.
‘We will consider any recommendations that come out of the investigation. I do want to remind everyone to be particularly safe on platforms when traveling on the rail network.
‘Stay behind the yellow line and well clear of the platform edge. Train stations are very dangerous places.’
Mr Longland described the scene as ‘confronting’ and thanked first responders for their efforts.
‘Clearly, incidents like this are quite confronting for everyone involved, and I want to thank all the first responders for their efforts in managing such a difficult situation,’ Mr Longland said.
One potential safety measure could be platform screen doors, which have been installed across the new Sydney Metro network.
Each door weights 175 kilograms and has a height of about 2.5 metres, creating a complete barrier between the platform and the track.
‘The doors will help increase safety by creating a barrier between the platforms and tracks, allowing customers to move along the platforms more efficiently,’ Sydney Metro said.
The platform screen doors were vigorously tested before being put into operation for metro services at the start of 2024.