Photo/Illutration A man with a baby stroller boards a train car at JR Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

TOYOOKA, Hyogo Prefecture--A 2-year-old boy was slightly injured in a fall onto the tracks at Ebara Station here after train doors closed while his mother was trying to pull his stroller aboard.

West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) on Jan. 14 disclosed the incident that occurred on the JR Sanin Line on Dec. 25.

According to JR West’s Fukuchiyama branch office, the mother had entered the last car of the two-car train around 10 a.m. and was trying to bring aboard the stroller carrying her son.

However, the train driver in his 30s was unaware of what the woman was doing. He closed the doors of the train and started to leave the station, according to the office.

Separated from the mother, the stroller fell onto the tracks about 1 meter below the platform.

The driver, who was the only employee aboard, stopped the train after being informed by the woman.

A station worker on the platform saw what had happened through security camera footage and rescued the boy. The office said the boy suffered a scrape and was not hit by the moving train.

The train left Ebara Station about five minutes later.

The driver said he confirmed safety several times using a rear-view mirror on the platform as stipulated under the company’s rules.

“I couldn’t see the area around the stroller because the area was in the shade,” the driver said.

JR West has apologized to the woman.

“This should have never happened,” a public relations official of JR West said. “We’ll call on all employees at our company to pay more attention (to safety).”

The official said the company did not immediately disclose the incident because “it had little impact on train operations.”