A 27-year-old woman was critically injured after she jumped onto train tracks in Atlanta to save her mum who was pushed moments prior, officials have said.

According to MARTA Police, the police department associated with Atlanta’s public transportation system, a 58-year-old woman was pushed wayside by a suspect in the city’s midtown location on Sunday.

The victim’s daughter jumped on the tracks in an effort to assist her mum and was struck by a train. She underwent surgery and is still reported to be in critical condition, MARTA Police said in a statement. Her mum was treated and later released from a local hospital. The department noted in a statement hours after the incident that it was unknown at that time whether the mother had also been struck by the train.

The Independent has reached out to MARTA Police. The department has not yet released the names of the victims as family members are still being notified.

The Atlanta police department has since arrested 28-year-old suspect Christopher Patrick Brooklin in connection with the incident. He has been charged with aggravated assault and battery in a public transit station. A spokeswoman at the Fulton County Sheriff's Office told The Independent that Mr Brooklin has since been held in Atlanta's Fulton County Jail. He waived his first appearance hearing; his next court date is scheduled for early September.

A witness told CBS that the man who allegedly pushed the 58-year-old was “going crazy”.

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“We were downstairs, and a man just started punching people like just going crazy,” Aiesha Bowden said.