Story By: Angjela Trajkovska, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: CEN

Video Credit: CEN

This is the moment a man narrowly escapes death or serious injury when the front of his car was torn off by a train at a railway crossing after he failed to check the way was clear.

CCTV footage shows the train smash into the car a split-second after the man drives onto the tracks in the Serbian capital city of Belgrade.

The locomotive hits the front of the black Audi car, knocking it sideways and out of the way of the following carriages.

The level crossing barrier was raised but the traffic lights had been covered with a black plastic bag, suggesting they were out of order, and there was a stop sign telling motorists to give way.

The CCTV footage shows the white-haired male driver of the Audi get out of the car several seconds after the train has passed, apparently in shock.

The man, whose name is not reported, walks onto the crossing, looks around and then turns back to a woman pedestrian and shrugs.

Nobody was injured in the incident, in the Mladenovac area of Belgrade, which is being blamed on the car driver by rail operators. It is not reported whether police are investigating.

A spokesman for Infrastructure Railway Serbia said the accident had happened because the driver was not paying attention. 

He said: “We are appealing to road users to respect traffic signs as that is the only way to avoid accidents and preserve the safety of traffic at road crossings.”

Netizen ‘Radenko Mosic’ commented: “Luckily no dead nor injured. The driver of the car did not respect the STOP sign, and did not look. It can be seen well from that direction.”