Train Drags Mother with Stroller 45 Metres Near Duchcov: Police Investigate Cause of Incident

On Wednesday, July 22, at around 4:00 pm, a serious incident occurred at the Háj u Duchcova stop involving a train travelling from Děčín to Litvínov. A woman failed to remove her child's stroller from the doorway in time as she was getting off — the carriage doors slammed shut, trapping the stroller, and as the train pulled away it dragged the mother roughly 45 metres before the driver brought it to a halt after bystanders signalled for him to stop. The woman suffered scrapes and bruises; the child was unharmed.

What police have found so far

According to regional police spokesman Václav Krieger, investigators have already launched formal proceedings on suspicion of causing bodily harm through negligence. "Investigative work is ongoing — witnesses are being interviewed, and we still need to request further documents and expert reports," he said. Railway staff were tested on the spot: the driver and other personnel involved were screened for alcohol and other psychoactive substances, and all results came back negative. The train's dispatch was overseen by the conductor, though the extent of his responsibility is still being determined.

An old carriage without modern sensors

Czech Railways has been fully cooperating with police and carried out a joint inspection of the train. A key detail emerged: the train used an older model of carriage dating from the early 1990s, which lacks modern safety systems. As company spokesman Petr Šťáhlavský explained, the carriage has a centralised door-locking system that, under International Union of Railways standards, prevents doors from being opened once the train exceeds 5 km/h. Unlike modern trains, however, these older doors do not automatically detect an obstruction between the panels and will not reopen on their own — safety instead relies primarily on a visual check by the train crew before departure.

The carrier stressed that such carriages are gradually being phased out across the Czech network, and on this particular route they will be retired entirely by the end of this year. Following the incident, the company is tightening staff training procedures, and it has offered assistance and compensation to the affected family.

Rail Safety Authority: "This should never have happened"

The Czech Rail Safety Authority (Drážní úřad), the national body overseeing rail safety, has stated that responsibility for safe transport and for supervising passenger boarding and alighting rests entirely with the carrier. "What happened in this case should absolutely not have occurred. The carrier is obliged to prevent situations like this," said the authority's spokeswoman Pavlína Straková. She noted that specific measures — whether automatic door-closure monitoring systems or manual checks where such systems are unavailable — fall under the carrier's responsibility.

Should the investigation reveal a technical fault or systemic failure, the Rail Safety Authority may impose sanctions. "If a breach of safety requirements is confirmed, the authority will require the carrier to bring the situation into compliance. If corrective action is not taken within the set deadline, operating conditions will be imposed or the service will be suspended," Straková added. In cases of persistent violations, the authority has the power to revoke a carrier's unified safety certificate, without which train operations cannot legally continue.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz