Teacher who stops train from leaving station suspended

Police have started an investigation after a woman delayed a train by stopping the door from closing, saying she was waiting for her husband in a city in eastern China.

Railway authorities in Heifei, Anhui Province, said Tuesday on their official Weibo account that the woman, Luo Haili, stood in between the train door and clung onto the handle while making phone calls, supposedly to her husband, at Bengbu South Railway Station on January 5 when the train was about to leave.

The G1747 service was running from Bengbu to Guangzhou in south China’s Guangdong Province.

Luo has been identified as a teacher at Yonghong Road Primary School in Heifei City. She has been suspended from her post following the incident, Luyang District education bureau said Tuesday, according to a report by thepaper.cn.

In a two-minute video shot by other passengers, Luo refused to step inside the train or retreat to the platform while railway staffers repeatedly asked her to let go of the door handle. She argued that she was waiting for her husband.

Luo received overwhelming criticism online, with netizens alleging she has broken the law and suggesting she be banned from trains for life.