Man carrying girl in fatal station fall

Published on Wednesday 23 December 2009 21:41

A MAN died at one of Scotland's busiest train stations yesterday after he fell and banged his head while carrying a young child through the main concourse.

An investigation was under way after the accident involving the 47-year-old man at Waverley station in Edinburgh shortly after 9am.

The victim, who was from Dundee, was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he was pronounced dead.

Officers from British Transport Police (BTP) are carrying out an investigation to discover whether he slipped or collapsed at the busy station.

They will be studying footage from the station's CCTV camera system in the search for clues.

Police sources, however, have dismissed claims that the man died after hitting his head on a vehicle at the station.

A spokesman for BTP said: "Around 9:20am, a man in his forties appeared to fall as he walked on the concourse of Edinburgh Waverley station.

"He was taken by ambulance to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he later died.

"Inquiries are ongoing into the circumstances surrounding his death, although at this stage there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.

"It is anticipated that a post-mortem will take place in due course to establish his cause of death, and a full report will be submitted to the local procurator-fiscal by Lothian and Borders Police."

The spokesman added that the man had been in the company of a girl, aged two or three, when the incident happened, close to the taxi rank at Waverley. The child was uninjured.

A spokesman for the station's operator, Network Rail said: "We can confirm that a man has died following a tragic incident at Waverley station this morning. We are co-operating fully with the police investigation into this matter."

He said the incident had happened at a covered area of the station that was not open to the elements.

The spokesman added: "The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated. We are leaving that in the hands of the BTP, who are going to examine the CCTV footage."