Commuters Save Woman Stuck In Platform Gap By Pushing Train

One of the most viewed stories of today is quite literally an uplifting one, as busy commuters in the morning rush hour worked together to push a train so that a woman trapped between the train and the platform edge was able to escape unscathed.

The incident happened at Minami Urawa station in Saitama Prefecture, and the total delay to the line that morning? Only 8 minutes.
Netizens admired the passengers working together to save the woman, with many happy to see the “good side” of Japan make headline news for once.

From Yomiuri Online:

Passengers Push Train to Rescue Woman, Passengers Applaud

Passengers and station crew push the carriage together to rescue a woman who has been caught between the train and the platform. (9:19, July 22, at JR Minami Urawa station) Photo by Nobuo Shigeta

 

 

Around 9:15 am on the morning of July 22, a woman in her 30s who was about to get off the local train from Omiya heading to Isogo, fell through the gap between the platform and train carriage and got stuck at her hip on the JR Minami Urawa station on the Keihin Tohoku line.

About 40 people including passengers that was on the train or platforms and station crew pushed the train together to make a gap in order to rescue the woman.

 

The woman was carried to the hospital but did not have any apparent injuries.

According to one of our reporters who was on the train, at the time of the accident, there was an announcement by the station crew saying “There’s a person stuck.” The passengers of the train got off the train voluntarily.

The passengers then helped the crew, who were trying to push the train.

The woman was rescued within minutes and the passengers applauded.

According to JR East Japan, when the platform is straight, the gap between the carriage and the platform is about 20 cm wide.

The carriage that was in the accident was the 4th in a 10 car train, and weighed about 32 tons including the wheels.

There is a suspension between the chassis of the car, which has the wheel and the carriage, and when the train is pushed, the suspension stretches and the carriage tilts.

There was maximum 8 minutes delay to the Keihin Tohoku Line due to this accident.

source:http://www.japancrush.com/2013/pictures/commuters-save-woman-stuck-in-platform-gap-by-pushing-train.html