A family in the US narrowly avoided tragedy when a fast-moving train sped towards them while they were taking photos on a railway line.

The incident took place in Greencastle, Pennsylvania East, on 23 February.

Footage of the near miss was captured by a live cam and shared on Youtube by Virtual Railfan.

In the two-minute clip, the family of seven and a photographer are seen walking on the tracks.

After taking pictures of the family, the photographer shows the results to the adults.

Meanwhile, the children are seen sitting and playing on the tracks without supervision.

The footage then speeds up several minutes to the moment the train comes into view for the first time.

Off camera, someone is heard shouting “train!”, before everyone in shot scrambles to safety.

The smallest child had to be rescued by one of the older children with just seconds to spare.

A countdown timer on the video showed that the family had just 15 seconds from when they spotted the train to when it reached them.

A caption on the video pleaded: “Please, please, please stay off the tracks and railroad property! This could have been beyond tragic!”

The video has had over 100,000 views since it was posted, with many people shocked by the family’s disregard for safety.

One person commented: “ALWAYS assume a rail line is active and STAY OFF THE TRACKS. Nobody should ever be on the tracks for ANY reason. I hope those people learned a lesson. They were extremely lucky and it could’ve turned out a lot worse.”

Another wrote: “I have seen a lot of death and destruction in my life due to my job. That said, watching that little boy that close to the rail the train is highballing on makes me sick to my stomach. Thank God this didn’t end the way it certainly could have.”

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