Dog walker hit by train in Timaru decided to ‘take a shortcut’ before he was struck

A fateful decision by a pair of dog walkers to take a shortcut across a rail bridge ended in disaster when a train appeared and sent them scrambling for their lives.

One man was struck by the oncoming train and sent sprawling into a creek below.

The train’s engineers, who had activated the emergency brake, jumped out and tried to rescue the injured and stricken man from the water.

With fractured bones and severe injuries, the man was unable to pull himself out of the creek, said Detective Sergeant Richard Quested.

However, despite the challenging conditions they found themselves in, the engineers managed to pull the man up a steep riverbank before emergency services arrived on the scene.

The incident unfolded at a bridge over Saltwater Creek, near Redruth St, Timaru, South Canterbury, around 3.30pm on Monday.

Quested said the pair had been walking a dog on the beach at the end of Saltwater Creek when they decided to take a shortcut and walk across the railway bridge.

As they were making the crossing, a train came around the bend towards them.

One man managed to get off the bridge with the dog, but the other was not so lucky.

He was hit by the train and knocked into the creek.

Hato Hone St John said it sent an ambulance, a helicopter, an operations manager and a rapid response unit to the incident.

The man was airlifted to Christchurch Hospital in a critical condition.