It could have been an entirely different story. A blind man fell onto the tracks of a moving metro train Thursday in Los Angeles, and he will live to tell the tale. KCBS has cell phone video from the scene.
VITIELLO: "Are you OK?"
MAN: "No."
VITIELLO: "Oh, he's alive!" (Via KCBS)
The unidentified man was injured, but it was from the fall — not the train.
"The MTA says the operator of an oncoming redline train saw the man at the edge of the platform, honked a warning but it was too late. The man, who had a cane, fell onto the tracks." (Via KABC)
"He fell and tumbled right onto the track bed. The train then passed directly over him. The man was trapped for about 20 minutes." (Via KTLA)
The man had fallen directly between the rail and platform. The train had come to a screeching halt, and the doors were manually opened to let off the passengers before emergency personnel arrived on the scene.
The LA fire department was able to get the man out from under the second car of the six-car train. He is listed as in fair condition at a local hospital. (Via KNBC)
Paul Gonzalez is a spokesperson for LA's transportation authority. He told the Los Angeles Times, "It really is a miracle. It's something you only see on TV."
This is the third time since 2012 that a Redline train has passed over a person, but this is the first time a person wasn't seriously injured. (Via KABC)
