Suicide attempt at Davis Square T, just after noon.

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

At 12:10 this afternoon, I saw a man jump in front of the incoming train at the Davis Square T stop.

He landed on the tracks about three-quarters of a second before the train passed over him. I saw him lie flat and align himself in the direction of the tracks, and pull his arms in. There's a slim chance the train passed over him and he's still alive. I don't know what the vertical clearance on those things is. At first I thought it was somebody pulling some sort of "Jackass" style graduation stunt, until I talked with the woman who was sitting next to him on the platform, who reported he was getting more and more agitated as they waited.

The area is full of emergency vehicles now, and I think that's a news copter circling.
Expect delays in red line service.

Comments

[toastistasty.livejournal.com]

That sucks. I'm so sorry you had to witness that. I was in South Station a couple of years ago when someone fell on the tracks, and some brave soul jumped down to help him up, when the train came rushing in. Luckily, everyone waved and the train stopped with plenty of time, but for a brief moment there, I thought two people were going to be dead. I was shaken for a few days. To have witnessed that must be much worse. An e-hug, or an e-reassuring pat on the shoulder to you.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

A few years ago I was at the Downtown Crossing red line on the inbound side, and there was a large family across on the outbound side. A little girl was doing cartwheels unsupervised on the platform, and I screamed when she cartwheeled right off the platform and onto the tracks. There was no train coming, and her male relatives jumped right down without a moment's hesitation and lifted her (and then themselves) to safety. She was crying but unurt, and must have landed on her knees or bum. The family just brushed her off, and then got on the train when it came. It was one of the most terrifying and surreal things I've ever seen.

Watch your kids on the platform, peeps.

[iabervon.livejournal.com]

Those trains can stop a lot shorter than you'd think. I saw someone climb down and walk across at Central once, and a train stopped outside the station to wait for him to clear the tracks. It's really only when the person wasn't on the tracks beforehand that they don't have time to stop.

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

By the time this train stopped, two or three full carlengths had passed over the jumper.