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An eight-year-old boy was hit by a train and killed when a man deliberately pushed him and his mum onto railway tracks, say police.

The mum and son were standing on a platform at Frankfurt's main station, which was "full of children", when they were shoved in front of a train as passengers looked on in horror.

Commuters "collapsed" screaming and crying on the platform, one witness said.

The high-speed ICE train - travelling across Germany from Dusseldorf to Munich - ran over the boy as it pulled into the station just before 10am local time on Monday.

His 40-year-old mum managed to roll to safety in a gap between tracks, and a 40-year-old Eritrean man was arrested by police who are treating the incident as a suspected homicide.

Have you been affected by the incident? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk.

(Image: DPA/Press Association Images)

The motive was unclear, said police.

The force said there appears to be no connection between the victims and the suspect, who allegedly fled the scene and was arrested a short time later after being chased and grabbed by commuters.

It is alleged that he had unsuccessfully tried to push a third person onto the tracks in front of the oncoming express train.

Police spokeswoman Isabell Neumann said: "According to witness reports, a 40-year-old man pushed the boy and his mother onto the track just as the ICE (train) was arriving.

(Image: DPA/Press Association Images)

"The mother, thank God, was able to save herself.

"Unfortunately, the eight-year-old boy was run over by the ICE. He suffered fatal injuries.

"The man concerned ... fled the station after the crime.

"Passers-by took up the chase and the man was detained near the station."

(Image: DPA/Press Association Images)

A police spokesperson said: "While the mother was able to save herself on a footpath between track 7 and 8, her child was hit by the train and died at the scene."

Ms Neumann said the mother was taken to hospital, and the suspect was being questioned.

A witness told Hessenschau that several children were on the platform when the boy was killed.

The witness, who was on the train, said: "People collapsed howling."

Another witness said the station was "full of children" at the time, and the train conductor was screaming.

(Image: DPA/Press Association Images)

Several witnesses were treated for shock.

Police said the man had tried to push a third person onto the tracks.

Witnesses told German media that the suspect was wearing dark clothes and ran from the scene.

The incident led to a huge emergency response which included 16 paramedic vehicles and a helicopter.

Several platforms at Frankfurt station, a major rail hub in Germany and one of the busiest in Europe, were closed after the incident

Earlier this month, a 34-year-old mum died when she was shoved in front of a train at a station in Voerde, Germany.

A 28-year-old man was arrested.

In that incident, the victim and the suspect did not know each other, according to police.