A mother and toddler have been rescued by commuters after they both tumbled off a subway platform in Boston.

Meera Thakrar said she kept walking as she thought the train on the outbound platform at the MIT/Kendall Square station in Cambridge was actually at her platform.

Several bystanders immediately jumped onto the tracks while others offered their hands to pull the 37-year-old and her child to safety.

The pair, who narrowly missed the electified third rail, were both taken to hospital as a precaution for minor injuries.