Japanese Commuters Pulled Together

The inspiring moment Japanese commuters pulled together to push 32-TON train away from platform to free woman who fell on the tracks

• Woman, in her 30s, slipped into eight-inch gap between platform and train
• Rescued unharmed after scores of commuters pushed carriage to one side
• She was pulled to safety at JR Minami-Urawa station north of Tokyo

Japanese commuters teamed up to heave a 32-ton train carriage away from the platform to free a woman who had fallen between the train and the platform at rush hour.

In a nightmarish scenario, the woman, who is in her 30s, slipped and fell into the eight-inch gap between the carriage and the platform edge at the busy JR Minami-Urawa station north of Tokyo.

But she escaped unscathed after around 40 commuters joined forces with officials to push the train carriage - which has a suspension system allowing it to lean to either side - away from the platform, allowing the woman to be pulled out.

Heroic effort: Commuters joined forces with rail officials to heave the train away from the platform after the woman got stuck between the carriage and the edge

The crowds in the station applauded as she made it back to safety unharmed.

The commuters' heroic effort was captured on camera by a newspaper photographer who was in the station at the time, and the resulting photo was published in Japan's largest daily newspaper, the Yomiuri.

Lucky escape: The woman fell between the train and the platform edge during rush hour, when Tokyo's rail stations are flooded with commuters (file photo)