Women caught on railroad bridge with nowhere to run

Heartstopping footage has been released showing a train running over two US women after they were caught trespassing on massive railroad bridge with nowhere to run.

Remarkably the two women survived after the 100-car coal train ran over them.

Caught walking across the 25m-high bridge in Indiana, the women are faced with the futile task of running to the other side.

There is not enough room on the bridge to let the train pass, and jumping over the edge would almost certainly be fatal.

"They're frankly running for their lives at this point in time," Indiana Railroad spokesperson Eric Powell told WLWT.

"The engineer threw the train into emergency braking as soon as possible."

The footage shot from the front of the train's engine shows one of the women tripping just as the train is getting close, and the other one stopping to try and help her.

"Both duck at the last minute," Mr Powell said.

"How they survived that is nothing short of a miracle."

The train ends up rolling over the top of the pair, and the engineer believed he had killed both of them.

Remarkably, the pair climbed out from under the stopped train and fled.

The women have now been identified and will likely be prosecuted for criminal trespass.