Nov 8, 2009 2:16 pm US/Pacific
Mass. Crowd Saves Woman After Fall On Train Tracks
Passengers Seen On Tape Flagging Train After Drunk Woman Falls Off Platform
BOSTON (CBS) ―
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In this video still from an MBTA camera, several people ran to the edge of the platform, waved their arms and pointed to the pit to get the train operator's attention.
MBTA
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The Orange Line pit area where the woman fell in North Station.
WBZ
A woman survived a close call late Friday night after she fell onto the train tracks inside a Boston T subway station.
It happened just before 11 p.m. on the inbound
Orange Line platform at North Station.
According to the MBTA, the unidentified woman was drunk when she fell off the platform and onto the tracks in the pit below, reports CBS station WBZ-TV in Boston.
Watch: Surveillance Video of Rescue
Several people waiting for the train ran to the edge of the platform, leaned over, waved their arms and pointed to the pit to get the train operator's attention as she approached the station.
It worked.
"Luckily for her, all of the passengers responded very quickly in flagging down the train and the operator went into an emergency stop and just came within inches of striking these people," said Transit Police Sgt. Paul Carroll.
"The front end of the train was actually over her. She was under the train."
Several people pulled her out of the pit.
Fortunately, the woman never touched the electrified third rail, which could have killed her.
Transit Police took her to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment.
"Luckily, all she suffered was a couple of bruises and scrapes on her legs and knees," said Carroll.
He said she was "highly intoxicated."
"She had been drinking for a couple of hours at one of the local establishments."
The train operator has been on the job for four years.
According to one witness, she received a "round of applause" as she pulled the train into the station, once the tracks were clear.
Read: One Witness Account
She is "shaken up" but o.k. according to Orange Line superintendent Susie Garcia.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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