Soldier breaks doors open on train as people scream there’s ‘no air’ in 50C heat

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An Irish soldier has told of how he broke open the door of a train because he has a "duty to protect the lives of our citizens" who were trapped on a hot carriage in "50c heat".

A soldier on board a DART train near Bray in Wicklow, Ireland, who wishes to remain anonymous, punched through a window and yanked open the doors when the service stopped just short of a station on Sunday, July 24.

As a result of his actions, passengers took matters into their own hands and started walking on the tracks towards the station.

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Despite the damage caused, and police scrambling to remove people from the tracks, the soldier said he felt his actions were right, adding that if he "didn't act people would have been seriously injured".

The soldier told Dublin Live that he was on the train with his 72-year-old mother and two children, headed to the Bray Air Display, an annual aviation show.

The soldier said that after they entered people in the carriage were screaming "no more passengers to board".

"As we moved to our next station I realised why people were screaming for no more passengers to board as the temperature felt it was well exceeding 50C," he said.

"People were trying to communicate that there was no air on the carriage. I was approximately five to six stops from Bray when I realised the was no way to open windows, and I can confirm the air conditioning wasn't operational.

"As a serving soldier of the Irish Defence Forces, it is my duty to protect the lives of Irish citizens, so I tried to make contact using the intercom emergency system to inform the driver of the situation in our carriage."

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The solider said he received no response from the train driver and asked the passengers to consent to the doors being opened.

He said: "They gave positive yes so I punched out the protective glass and activated the door release valve, and then manually open the doors with both hands. Immediately passengers started to jump from the carriage.

"Seeing this, I proceeded to the other door and carried out the same. This time I exited the carriage and help passengers disembark."

An Irish Rail spokesman told Dublin Live that they fully accept that some people were forced to open the doors of the carriages.

He added that some people on the train in front had done the same as the DART was waiting outside Bray Station for a platform, meaning that the soldier's train was held up.

An Irish Rail spokesperson added: "This has turned a delay outside Bray of just over five minutes into one which has impacted services for up to two hours."

Thousands were using the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) service on Sunday, as the Bray Air Display was on, while over 80,000 GAA fans packed into Croke Park for the All Ireland Final between Kerry and Galway.

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