Two MRT falling incidents
on Xmas day
'Severed leg was lying on tracks'
EARLY morning drama gripped two MRT stations in the north
yesterday.
By Zubaidah Nazeer
27 December 2007
EARLY morning drama gripped two MRT stations in the north
yesterday.
At 9.43am, the southbound train service between Yew Tee and
Woodlands was disrupted when the train driver spotted someone
falling onto the tracks at Kranji station, said a Singapore Mass
Rapid Transit (SMRT) spokesman.
But police, SCDF and SMRT staff couldn't find anyone after an
extensive search of the area.
Mr Tan Hoo Huat, 51, who runs a sundry shop at the station's ground
level said that police had asked him if he had seen a man fall onto
the tracks.
Normal train services resumed at 10.53am. But within minutes, it
was disrupted again. This time, there was an incident at the
Marsiling MRT station, one stop away from Kranji MRT station.
At 11.12am, witnesses saw a man fall onto the tracks at the
station.
The man lost part of his leg after being hit by a train.
Cleaner Abdul Malik, 48, was near the platform when he heard
screams and turned to see the train stop abruptly.
He said: 'The train had just pulled into the station but halted. I
think someone punched the emergency buttons.
'I looked over the platform and saw a man's leg from the knee
onwards on the tracks near the front of the train.
'My first thought was this man must have been crushed and
died.'
But the man survived the hit.
Witnesses described him as being in his late 40s. He was conscious
while being carried out on a stretcher.
An SCDF spokesman said: 'Our officers searched the scene and we
found a man trapped under the train. A part of his left leg was
already severed by the impact. SCDF officers immediately removed
him.'
The man was rushed to National University Hospital (NUH). The
severed left leg was retrieved and packed in a bag of ice and also
sent to NUH. At the hospital, his wife and teenage daughter were
too distraught to speak.
The disruption caused frazzled nerves on Christmas day. SMRT
estimated that 5,400 passengers were affected. Buses were deployed
to ferry passengers out of the affected stations.
SMRT said those unable to complete their journeys because of the
disruptions can claim a full refund from the Passenger Service
Centre of any MRT station within the next three working days.
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