A little girl cheated death by inches in Argentina after a bizarre bid by her mother to avoid paying a train fare.

Her mother was captured by the station surveillance video lowering her on to the tracks just as a train was coming into the station.

The video, released by the commuter rail operator shows the woman guiding the child underneath the platform, apparently trying to hide from ticket collectors.

The woman appears set to join the child hiding under the platform when suddenly she sees the train approaching.

She scrambles back up onto the platform, but her daughter remains below, the video shows.

As the train comes to a stop, the woman bends over and peers into the gap between the train and platform, apparently checking for the girl. Horrified commuters who witnessed the scene cluster around.

"We quickly cut the electrical current to avoid any accident," said manager Guillermo D'Abenigno of Buenos Aires Trains - or TBA for its initials in Spanish.

"You couldn't hear anything. We feared the worst - that the girl was dead, torn to pieces under the train."

TBA workers were able to crawl underneath the platform, where they found the girl terrified but unharmed, safely ensconced inside a tiny nook.

"It was a mishap with a little luck," Mr D'Abenigno said.

The incident took place on Tuesday but came to light last night with the release of the video.

Authorities have not given any identifying details on the mother or the daughter, who appears to be a toddler or slightly older. It was not immediately known if the mother would face charges.

Mr D'Abenigno said people commonly do "all kinds of things to get out of paying the fare".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdC-11JpXjw