A 37-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries on Sunday night when he was hit by a Berlin S-Bahn train at a level crossing in Treptow-Köpenick.

As a spokeswoman for the federal police told the Tagesspiegel in the morning, he is said to have passed under a closed barrier to get to the other side – but at that moment a train on line S47 drove up and collided with the man. Previously, “B.Z.” and “Berliner Zeitung” reports.

The accident happened at the transition between Schnellerstraße and Oberspreestraße. Around 1:15 a.m., a couple with a child were out and about. While the woman was still able to cross the crossing with her pram when the barrier was open, the father had apparently missed the connection – and the barrier lowered. The man is said to have tried to reach the woman and child.

The 37-year-old suffered life-threatening head injuries. It took a long time for the rescue workers who were called to stabilize him enough to transport him to a hospital.

There were seven passengers on the S-Bahn at the time of the accident. Neither were they physically injured, nor was the train driver, but they were under the impression of what had happened.

Because of the rescue measures and the subsequent investigations and clean-up work, rail traffic on line S47 was interrupted at this point until 4:15 a.m., the spokeswoman for the federal police said.