An unidentified man has died after he was transported to hospital in critical condition following a subway accident during which he was seemingly struck by a D train at Kingsbridge Road subway station in Fordham Manor last weekend, police said.

 

An NYPD spokesperson said that on Saturday evening, Dec. 7, “The man entered the track area of a southbound D train. He was trying to retrieve a cell phone after dropping it.”

 

The spokesperson continued, “As the D train entered the station, the train operator tried using the emergency brakes, but was unsuccessful. The unidentified male crawled under the platform in order to avoid being struck. He suffered a medical episode and was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital by EMS in critical condition. The investigation remains ongoing at this time.”

 

We asked the NYPD If the man was definitely struck by the train or if he managed to avoid being hit and the spokesperson said, “They said that he crawled underneath the platform in order to avoid being struck, but in the process of that, he suffered a medical episode and was transported by EMS to the hospital in critical condition.”

Asked if he had a description of the person, the spokesperson said, “I don’t have any right there.”

 

When contacted EMS/FDNY said they received a call at 6.48 p.m. on Saturday for a report of someone struck by a train at 200 East Kingsbridge Road, and that EMS transported one patient to St. Barnabas Hospital. They said his condition was unknown.

 

Norwood News spoke to straphanger, Cheikh Amar, on the subway’s southbound platform shortly after the incident, who, along with several other commuters, were waiting to continue their journeys. Those on the D train at the time it stopped were informed to disembark after the incident. Speaking in French, Amar told Norwood News, “I had just passed the area and I just saw afterwards that apparently one person had fallen down.”

 

He said he didn’t see the person go down however. Asked if he could describe the victim, Amar said he was a White person. He said he didn’t know if it was a young or an old person. “I just saw the train had stopped,” he said. The train was seen in a stationery position with its doors open, having entered the station only some of the way along the southbound platform.

Amar shared the attached video of the aftermath of the scene with us. Prior to receiving the official update from the NYPD about the incident, we had asked Amar if he had seen if the man had fallen or if he had perhaps been pushed. He said he didn’t see the incident take place. “I just saw that the train and stopped and there were a lot of people [on the platform],” he said.

 

We asked Amar if he had been on the train when the incident occurred. He said he had not. He said when he entered the station, he saw that the train was stopped and saw the emergency personnel trying to save the victim. He added that he saw the victim being administered oxygen by emergency services.

 

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story described the station location as being in Kingsbridge Heights. This has since been updated to Fordham Manor. The Kingsbridge Road subway station serving the 4 train is located in Kingsbridge Heights but the Kingsbridge Road subway station serving the B/D trains is located in Fordham Manor. We apologize for the error.