A mother and child who fell on to a tube track at Baker Street station survived by ducking into a pit between the rails as the train passed over their heads.

The woman’s husband also escaped unharmed after jumping down from the platform to try to help his family before the train passed.

The woman was walking with a pram along the platform at the station in north London at about 10.15pm on Friday night, and was looking at an overhead display board.

The wheels of the buggy slipped over the edge and the woman and her child fell on to the track below.

As a train approached, the woman’s husband jumped down on to the track to try to rescue his wife and child.

The family managed to duck into a sheltered area below the track and the train passed over their heads without injuring them.

A Transport for London (TfL) spokesman said passengers on the platform alerted the driver, who managed to brake after the first carriage passed over the family.

The track’s electric current was shut down and the family managed to climb out from underneath the first carriage of the train. They were helped on to the platform by officers from the British Transport Police (BTP).

The platform was closed from 10.15pm and reopened shortly before 11pm.

BTP said: “Amazingly none of them were seriously hurt, but as a precaution they were taken to hospital for check-ups.”

Kerry Martin was in the station when the incident happened and told the Guardian: “Alarms started going off and an announcement for ‘inspector Sam’ started over the speakers. An employee sprinted past on the escalator holding a high-vis jacket he hadn’t had time to put on yet, yelling for people to get out of the way.

“There were fleets of emergency vehicles outside, including an emergency child ambulance which left roughly 10 minutes after the incident had started.

“The staff were incredibly quick to respond and move everyone.”

Other commuters who saw the scene unfold took to social media in the aftermath of the accident.

Peter Holland said he saw people screaming and running in tears after the near miss.

“We got to the platforms at Baker Street just as this happened, the train whistling, people screaming and running in tears”, he said.

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear this wasn’t fatal. Thoughts out to the driver of the train. Unbelievable.”

Another witness to the freak accident revealed that station staff and the driver “did a superb job” in rescuing the young family.

When pushchair with kids and mum end up on the track in front of the train you were just about to board. 😔 Thankfully all unharmed. The driver is also ok and he did a superb job, along with a chap from the depot that was on his way to work. What a night. — 3.1 / アン (@version3point1) September 7, 2018

Speaking to the BBC, a commuter who did not want to be named said that the station was evacuated in minutes after the near miss.

“I was on the platform for about two minutes and then an alarm went off which said ‘this is an emergency. Everyone leave the station’,” she said.

“I left the station and within five minutes there were fire engines, police cars, St John’s Ambulance, British Transport Police and undercover police cars.

“I saw a man leave the station with a child, then a woman came out and she was wearing white trainers which had black skid marks on, and then someone brought a buggy out of the station, but it didn’t look damaged.”

Nigel Holness, TfL’s director of network operations, said: “We are relieved that the family who were involved in the incident at Baker Street last night were able to escape unharmed and we offer them our best wishes.

“Having reviewed footage from our platform cameras and spoken to those involved, we understand this incident was an accident but it does underline the need for all customers to remain behind the yellow line when waiting for trains or walking along the platform.

“I would like to thank the BTP and station staff for their support.”