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Baby survives fall onto tracks

AHMADABAD, India - A girl born prematurely in a moving train's bathroom fell through the toilet onto the tracks and survived nearly two hours before being rescued, relatives said Thursday.

The infant's mother, who uses the single name Bhuri, was traveling with relatives when she went to the bathroom shortly before midnight Tuesday and unexpectedly gave birth, said Arjun Kumar, her brother-in-law.

"She fell unconscious and the baby fell through the toilet," he said. "Two stations later, we knocked at the door."

Bhuri opened the door, soaked in blood. "When we asked her about what happened, she said the baby had fallen through onto the tracks," Kumar said.

Toilets on Indian trains usually have holes that open directly onto the tracks.

There were no indications that authorities doubted Bhuri's story or planned to investigate.

Kumar said that after finding Bhuri, relatives pulled the train's emergency cord and notified railway officials. A search was quickly organized, and guards at one of the stations the train had passed soon found the baby.

"She was on the rail track for almost 1 1/2 to two hours," said Dr. Gautam Jain, a pediatrician at Rajasthan Hospital in Ahmadabad, in the western state of Gujarat, where the baby and mother were taken.

The infant, who had not yet been named, was eight to 10 weeks premature and weighed only 3 pounds 4 ounces, Jain said. She had a low heart rate and body temperature.

"We do not expect such children to survive," Jain said, adding that her survival was "God's mercy."

[Last modified February 29, 2008, 01:31:00]