Motorist saves boy stuck on level crossing

A motorist dragged a boy off railway lines to safety seconds before a train passed where the child was standing.

The eight-year-old boy was going across a level crossing in the commune of Cognin, near Chambéry, a few yards behind his mother when the barriers descended.

Panicked, he froze in the middle of the tracks, with his hands over his ears.

Fortunately, a motorist waiting at the barriers acted quickly. She got out of her car, dashed onto the tracks and grabbed the boy and the bicycle he had with him, and carried them beyond the barrier to safety moments before a train went by.

The boy and his rescuer were uninjured.