Woman blocks high-speed train from leaving in China as husband was late

A member of staff tries to get the woman to stop blocking a train door.

BEIJING: A woman in Hefei, Anhui province, recently learned that a high-speed train is by no means a family vehicle, after she impeded a train's departure and asked the station personnel to let her husband board the train after he was denied entry as the gate was already closed.

The woman, surnamed Luo, stopped a cabin door from closing on a high-speed train bound for Guangdong from Hefei using her body on Friday, as seen in a video that went viral on the internet.

In the video, Luo can be seen blocking the door while talking on the phone, in the hope that it would stall the train's departure and allow the boarding of her husband, who along with their child was stopped at the gate for arriving late, reported Shanghai Morning Post on Tuesday.

Ignoring the repeated demands from two train personnel to either stay inside the cabin or stay on the platform, she was then forced out of the train, and fell on the ground and was pulled by an official on the platform. But her jammed foot in the crack between the door and its frame led to a second opening of the almost closed gate, followed by her continued demand for the boarding of her husband.

Talking later with the Post, she denied using the foot on purpose to stall the train, and said the foot “happened to be in that position”.

Though the incident ended with Luo finally being pulled out of the train, the train left about four minutes behind schedule.

Claiming she had no idea that the gate of the train was supposed to be closed three to five minutes before the departure, Luo believed her action was “no problem if her husband can just come down (to the platform) in 10 seconds”, as there was “two minutes left” before the scheduled leaving.

“Because the child has stuff to do in the other city, we were in a hurry, and there was only one train that day, or otherwise we would have to wait till the next day,” said Luo in the Post interview.

According to a Guanchazhe report, Luo was suspected of violating the Law on Punishments in Public Order and Security Administration and Regulation on the Administration of Railway Safety, and faces a possible detention of 10 days and penalty of up to 2,000yuan (RM1, 229).

Luo is currently suspended from her job as a deputy dean in a primary school in Hefei while the case is being investigated. - China Daily/Asia News Network