Man In Wheelchair Recovering After Being Pinned By Train At Lexington Market Station
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A man in a wheelchair was hit by a subway train. Firefighters staged a daring rescue to save the man pinned underneath a train car.
WJZ talked to witnesses who saw the whole thing.
Monique Griego reports.
That man is recovering at Shock Trauma as investigators try to figure out how he fell onto the train tracks.
Sky Eye Chopper 13 was over the scene seconds after firefighters pulled the man out from under a train. Witnesses say it's a scene they'll never forget.
"All I know is that I saw the train hit somebody," said Mariah Caldwell.
"They heard screams, people yelling and screaming about the man and the guy was under the train," said Angel Celah.
People on the platform say the man was in a wheelchair and tipped forward, falling onto the tracks.
"It happened so fast," said Terrell Mayfield.
Mayfield says he saw the train run right over the man.
"When the train was coming, a lot of us, we was trying to tell the train to stop. That's when the train ended up on top of him," Mayfield said.
The Lexington Market station was closed for just under two hours, and firefighters frantically tried to free that man. Rescue workers crawled underneath the subway to get to the train. He was conscious and talking as they put him on a backboard.
"They had to actually pull him by rope, probably over 150 to 200 feet on the track beneath the train," said Baltimore City Fire Chief Kevin Cartwright.
He was loaded on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital.
"We don't know how the man wound up on the tracks but the good news is the Baltimore City Fire Department was able to get the individual from under the train," said Terry Owens, Maryland Transit Administration.
Maryland Transit Administration police are now interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance tape to figure out how that man got on the tracks.
Officials say the victim suffered bruises, but he was conscious and talking when he was taken to the hospital.
MTA officials say they did find that man's wheelchair underneath the train.
