CHENNAI: A potential accident was averted on Saturday when the driver of a train hit the brakes upon spotting an elderly woman lying on the tracks.

The woman was lying on the tracks at Chevvaipettai railway station in Tiruvallur, when the driver of the Salem-Chennai Express train, which was passing through the station, pressed the brakes.

A fatal accident was averted as the driver stopped the train in the nick of time. 

The woman was then taken to a hospital nearby.