91-year-old woman gets run over by German express train but escapes with minor injuries

The woman had been taking a shortcut across the train tracks with her Zimmer frame

The woman threw herself to the ground and let the train pass over her (Getty Images)

A 91-year-old woman in northern Germany has escaped a terrifying encounter with an express train travelling at 100mph that ran over her, escaping with only minor injuries.

The woman, who had been crossing the train tracks with her Zimmer frame in the town of Langwedel on Friday, threw herself to the floor when she realised there was a train hurtling towards her.

The train passed straight over the woman without the driver realising what had happened.

The driver told police he had heard a thud-like noise consistent with hitting an animal, but when he stopped at the next station to inspect the train, he found parts of the woman’s Zimmer frame and went into shock.

The man was unable to carry on with the journey and was replaced by another driver, Deutsche Welle reported.

Authorities had been alerted to the 91-year-old woman still lying on the tracks by a driver travelling in the opposite direction, and when emergency responders arrived at the scene they found she had only minor injuries.

Bremen police said the woman’s ability to get down between the tracks and survive the ordeal was “normally not possible” due to the velocity of the train travelling at such speed, the risk that her clothes could have got caught by the train’s undercarriage, and the fact that most people would only have had the space of two seconds to react when spotting an express train travelling towards them.

The woman told police she had been using the short cut across the tracks for a number of years, despite needing to use a Zimmer frame, The Local reported.