MAN HOLDS ONTO HIGH-SPEED TRAIN IN AUSTRIA AFTER IT DEPARTS WITHOUT HIM. (PHOTO).

 Man holds onto high-speed train in Austria after it departs without him, officials say

A man survived after holding onto the outside of a high-speed train in Austria on Saturday, reportedly after the train departed while he was taking a cigarette break. The incident occurred at the station in Sankt Poelten, west of Vienna, according to railway spokesman Herbert Hofer.

The unidentified man grabbed onto the train as it began leaving the platform. Hofer called the act “irresponsible,” warning that such stunts often end tragically and put not only the individual but also emergency responders at risk. The train made an emergency stop, and the man was taken onboard safely.

The train was traveling from Zurich, Switzerland, to Vienna. Though it departed Sankt Poelten on time, it arrived in Vienna about seven minutes late. According to a passenger cited by Austrian tabloid Heute, the man jumped into the gap between two carriages as the train started moving. He had been smoking on the platform during the stop and then clung to the train before banging on windows to get attention, prompting the conductor to trigger the emergency brake.

The 24-year-old Algerian man was escorted off by police when the train reached Vienna’s Meidling station. Authorities have yet to comment on his background pending further investigation.

This incident echoes a similar case in January when a 40-year-old Hungarian man survived clinging to a German high-speed train for nearly 20 miles after it left while he was smoking. He told police he didn’t want to be separated from his luggage left on the train.