An 8-year-old boy has died after he and his mother were pushed in front of an incoming high-speed train at Frankfurt’s main station, shortly before 10 on Monday morning.

Voice of Europe, 29 July 2019

Horrified witnesses say they saw the man push the child and his mother, 40, in front of an InterCity Express train.

The boy’s mother was able to save herself by rolling into a narrow gap between tracks, but she lost hold of her son who was fatally hit by the oncoming train.

Local reports say the man, dressed in black trouser and an olive T-shirt, attempted but failed to push a third victim off the platform at the busy station which eyewitnesses said was full of children at the time.

Police say a 40-year-old man, thought to be from Eritrea, was arrested near the station and that there appeared to be no connection between him and the victims.

Police told BILD: “The mother was barely able to save herself. Passersby watched the attack and ran after the fleeing man, of African descent. He was arrested in the station.”

Commuters at the station “howled” after seeing the child fall to his death, as police, fire brigades, 16 ambulances and a helicopter arrived at the busy station in Germany’s financial capital.

Several witnesses needed medical treatment after seeing the death, hessenschau.de reported, and a conductor, who saw the incident from a train, shouted as it was happening.
The station was “full of children” a witness told the publication.

Four of the busy stations tracks were closed following the attack, causing delays for many commuters.

The ICE train, traveling from Dusseldorf the Munich, is capable of running at speeds of up to 186mph (300kmph).

It comes just a week after a 34-year-old mother was killed when she was pushed in front of a train in Voerde station, near Duisburg. A 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of the murder.

In that incident, the victim and the suspect did not know each other, according to police.