BERLIN (AP) — German police say a 42-year-old man jumped on a moving train after its doors closed with his children on board and him standing in a Hamburg station.

Police said the father had stepped out of the train for a smoke during its Hamburg stop on Tuesday afternoon.

A police statement issued Wednesday said when the train started moving out of the station with his 9- and 7-year-old children inside, the man allegedly grabbed the pleated rubber cover between two cars and tried to climb his way to a door.

A passenger spotted him and alerted a conductor, who ordered the train halted.

The father faces a criminal investigation.