Federal investigators say the passenger door of a subway car in Boston did not work properly when a man stuck his hand in it and was dragged to his death last month.
From the Associated Press
May 2, 2022, 4:18 p.m.
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BOSTON – A passenger door on a subway car in Boston was not functioning properly when a man stuck his hand in it and was dragged to his death last month, federal investigators said Monday.
Trains are equipped with safety features that prevent them from moving when the doors are clogged, according to a preliminary report by the National Transport Safety Council.
“NTSB investigators inspected and tested the wagon involved in the crash, identifying a malfunction in the local door control system that allowed the train to run with the door closed,” the report said.
In a statement Monday, the MBTA identified the problem as a “short circuit”.
The man, identified by local authorities as Robinson Lalin, 39, of Boston, died around 12:30 a.m. on April 12 when he left the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Red Line train with six cars at Broadway Station.
Lalin slammed her right hand into the door and was dragged more than 100 feet on the platform, on a lower surface near the tracks, the NTSB report said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The NTSB confirmed the MBTA’s initial assessment of a short circuit in the car’s wiring, which allowed the train to start moving as Mr Lalin tried to exit through the closing doors,” the MBTA said in a statement.
The MBTA checked the doors of the other locomotives and found no similar problems.
“During rigorous tests, the problem with the accident car can not be duplicated in any of the other Red Line cars of the same make and model,” said T.
The wagon and the train operator remain out of operation.
The investigation continues. So far, the NTSB has reviewed and tested the train’s equipment, reviewed security videos, monitored the train’s operations, conducted interviews and conducted remote observations.
The NTSB said Monday’s report was preliminary and subject to change.
There have been other safety issues with the MBTA in the last year. Nine people were injured in September when an escalator at Back Bay Station broke down, and more than two dozen went to hospital last July when a Green Line train stopped another trolley.
T’s statement said safety was a priority and the agency had spent $ 8 billion on infrastructure and vehicle investments over the past five years and nearly doubled the size of its safety department over the past three years.
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