World News: Man runs 7km to catch train and not a cold

– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: Wearing only sweat pants and a t-shirt, a Russian man was forced to run approximately seven kilometers (4.3 miles) at minus 40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit) after he fell off a train in Russia’s Far East, transport police said on Saturday.

The unidentified 42-year-old man, who lives in the city of Bratsk in Irkutsk Oblast, was traveling on board a night train which connects Moscow to Neryungri in the Sakha Republic. The incident happened in a remote region of Amur Oblast in the East Siberian taiga, where stations are often far apart.

The man told authorities that he left his compartment and went for a smoke in the vestibule of the train carriage, which was the last carriage of the train. But when he finished his cigarette, the man opened the wrong door and stepped into the darkness, causing him to tumble out onto the railway.

Although he was not injured in the fall, the man was surrounded by taiga and was only wearing a t-shirt, sweat pants and slippers. Transport police in the far eastern region said the temperature was about minus 40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit) when the incident took place.

A spokesman said the man initially ran after the slow-moving train but failed the catch it, after which the train disappeared into the distance. But he continued running to avoid death by hypothermia and, after covering a distance of approximately seven kilometers (4.3 miles), he reached Richard Sorge station.

Police said the man received medical help after reaching the station, which is usually unmanned but happened to be staffed that night. Exact details about the man’s injuries were not immediately released, but his injuries were not believed to be serious and he was not suffering from frostbite.

An investigation is underway to determine why the door of the last train carriage was left unlocked.

— Phuket Gazette Editors

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