A 15-year-old boy who allegedly attempted to “surf” a New York City subway train has lost an arm after he fell onto the tracks at a station in the borough of Queens.
Att just before 10.30am on Monday, authorities say the boy lost his balance while walking between train cars and fell onto the tracks of Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue station.
A northbound R train severed the boy’s arm below the elbow as it departed the Queens station and according to ABC7, he was found unconsious and covered in a pool of blood when emergency services arrived.
Authorities said the teenager and three friends had been attempting to climb on top of a subway cars to “surf”, in spite of warnings by transport authorities not to do so following similar tragedies.
“A preliminary investigation determined that the male was struck by a northbound R train as it was pulling away from the station,” the New York Police Department (NYPD) said in a statement to local news outlets. “The aided is not believed to be the victim of a crime. The investigation remains ongoing at this time.”
CCTV footage seen by Fox8 appeared to show the boy yelling for help immediately after the R train left the station before bystanders pulled him to safety. He was taken to Bellevue hospital in a stable condition along with his severed arm, which was found at the next station, sources told the news station.
Pat Warren, the chief safety and security officer for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which operates the subway system, said in a statement: “Riding outside of subway cars is reckless and extremely dangerous. This behaviour can result in awful consequences, as it likely has for the young man who was severely injured on Monday.”
“He was just looking around like nothing happened,” a witness told the New York Post of the boy following the incident. “He didn’t cry or nothing”.
Despite a $75 fine for “subway surfing” and the death of one man last year, hundreds of similar incidents have been recorded so far in 2022 and current MTA figures suggest a 500 per cent increase in people attempting to ride on carriages compared to 2020, People reported.
E/F/M/R subway trains temporarily stopped serving t Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue while investigators worked at the scene on Monday, the MTA said.
