Woman crushed by subway train after jumping on tracks to retrieve purse

By TODD VENEZIA and JAMIE SCHRAM

Last Updated: 7:50 PM, March 11, 2010

Posted: 5:26 PM, March 11, 2010

Comments: 41

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A woman was crushed to death by an oncoming subway train at the 77th Street Station in Manhattan this afternoon after she jumped on the tracks to retrieve her dropped purse, police said.

The horrific incident occurred on the crowded northbound platform shortly before 4 p.m. when the woman, described by police as 48-years-old, somehow ended up on the tracks as a train barreled towards her.

Witnesses told police that she dropped her medium-sized black handbag on the tracks then went to retrieve it.

As the No. 6 train headed towards the woman, onlookers screamed to her to lie down between the tracks.

The motorman sounded his horn eight times to warn her, witnesses said.

Other witnesses said it appeared that she was trying to climb back up but didn’t have enough time.

The woman then pressed herself against the platform wall — which only provides several inches of space between the wall and the train — and was struck.

“I felt the thud. The thud of it was like a weird feeling. When the train hit the body,” said Glenda Farr, 52, who was on the train. “You could feel like, you know, the train hit something. But I didn’t know it was a body. I lived upstate. You ever hit a deer or something? It was like that.”

Once evacuated onto the platform Farr then saw the true horror of the accident.

“All I saw was her head sticking out. She was stuck where the door is,” she said.

It was chaos on the platform as straphangers shrieked with horror upon seeing the shredded parts of her body, witnesses said.

With additional reporting by Amber Sutherland, Tom Namako, Larry Celona and Chuck Bennett

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Comments (37)

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ally00907

03/13/2010 12:17 AM

Horrible story. And some cruel comments on here,too! Sure, it wasn't the brightest thing to jump down to the train tracks like that (ok pretty stupid actually), but people don't deserve to DIE because they have low IQ's. Anyway why didn't anyone reach out their hand to help her climb out? Terrible!!
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Ken Ramnath

03/12/2010 1:38 PM

Thank you Avileigh for your compassion to her. It is good to know people care. Mike I agree that something better has to be done and the city should not be too concerned when it comes to cost for keeping people safe. Even those who are so heartless to this woman will benefit from the change she has effected for them. I also believe that there should be a rule implemented in regards to people seen by crew on the tracks. The response should not be just tooting the horn but the train must be stopped immediately regardless of how far they may be from the person as people get stuck on the line. Tooting the horn will not do any good in that situation. We must do something for the change. I am saddened all day today as well. I wish there was something I could have done to help her. I did not see her as the crowd was thick but I feel her pain. If it is possible, please call me and I will dedicate my time to this cause. My number is 862 218 3504. May God bless her. She is the type of person who takes a chance and it tells me that if someone else would have fallen into that track, she would have jumped in for them. I still can't understand why people didn't pull her out and from how far did the motorman see her. The train obviously slows down on approach to this station as this was a local stop. Why did it stop midway of the platform and not before. The station was not dark.
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fcs25

03/12/2010 9:38 AM

Stupid is as Stupid does and this brain-dead women takes the prize.How stupid can you be.
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Mike

03/12/2010 8:59 AM

So sad.. Is there any way this could have been prevented? People have fallen soo many times and been killed, perhaps there a way to make a gate that allows access to the track only when the train comes.
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KnicksNut

03/12/2010 4:38 AM

Sad story. May God bless her and keep her.
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Cats

03/12/2010 4:36 AM

This is the train operator's worst nightmare. Not being able to sleep for a few nights will be the least of his problems. He will need some intense counseling to get through this.
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avaleigh

03/12/2010 4:06 AM

Ken Ramnath-- i am sorry that you had to see this trauma unfold in front of you.Hopefully the poor woman died instantly and shock set in before that.Envision her just flying up to heaven where she is perfectly healed and happy .It will be easier on your mind if you take this approach.Bless you.
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Ken Ramnath

03/12/2010 3:51 AM

I meant thank you Avaleigh for your compassion