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Wife, bystanders pull man off tracks at Central Square

The MBTA says a Florida man walked off the southbound Red Line platform shortly before 5 p.m. yesterday, possibly because he just couldn't stop while trying to get to a train pulling out of the station - a train going the opposite direction from the one he wanted. He plunges into the pit starting around 1:00 on the video; look down the platform, past the guy who walks all the way down, seems to be right there when the guy goes over the edge, then just turns around and walks away.

At 4:52 pm yesterday, a 56-year old Florida man walked off the southbound Red Line platform, and dropped into the pit at Central Station in Cambridge. Within seconds, he was assisted out of the pit by his wife and others. He did not make contact with the third rail, but he was transported to Mt. Auburn Hospital for elbow and back pain. The man said he fell into pit when he attempted to reach the northbound train (on the opposite track). He said he mistakenly believed the Alewife-bound train was the one he wanted.

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Comments

with those two lowlifes who just walked away from someone who fell in the tracks! How do you even do that? Totally the opposite reaction of that woman on the Green Line who immediately ran to the driver. Losers.

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To me, it looks like they didn't see the guy fall...one guy had his head off to the side, and the other seemed to have his back to it.

Central Square has an attendant, so walking away to notify the attendant would be a good idea. It's easier to radio the driver of the next train (re: Nummy the Bunny) than it is to flag him down by leaning over the edge of the platform into the tunnel.

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At least for the guy in the dark shirt, it looks like he was distracted momentarily, and then when he turned around, he couldn't see anything wrong because the man was down below in the pit, out of sight.

Then he walks back down the platform and later turns around and comes back when he sees the commotion, but it's already over.

Dunno about the other guy.

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I've looked several times now. The perspective is very severe, but it looks like the two guys who walk into the foreground over the next half minute were maybe twenty or thirty feet from where the man went over. The guy fell straight down and didn't pop up for several seconds. It's quite possible they literally could not see him.

The guy in the dark shirt seems to look, but we can see that the gentleman who fell has his head below the platform level at that point. And the fellow in the light shirt appears pre-occupied with the several objects he was carrying, and may have been only aware of his immediate surroundings.

The train on the opposite platform is starting to pull away at the same time all this is unfolding - which anyone who's been through Ctrl Sq station can tell you - is accompanied by a great deal of loud cross-spectrum noise. Saturation of any of the senses reduces most people's ability to accurately retain and interpret information from the other senses - ie people in loud environments don't 'see' as well.

Certainly if we are going to believe that someone could walk right off the edge of a well marked five foot high platform, it doesn't strain credulity to think that these two guys simply missed what was thirty feet away.

p.s. Hurrah for the fellow being ok!

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And the fellow in the light shirt appears pre-occupied with the several objects he was carrying, and may have been only aware of his immediate surroundings.

That's kind of the point... there's a moral obligation to be alert and aware; people who walk around with their faces in their iPhones or earphones in their ears aren't holding up their end of the deal.

Yeah, in my book, you are your brother's keeper.

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After watching multiple times to see what the heck is the man in the blue polo shirt and the white t-shirt man was doing. It just really bothered me.

First observation is there is the train on the other side. My memory say it is pretty loud. Probably loud enough to help making sounds like falling into the tracks to be pretty masked.

At 4:52:14 - the man reached over the platform and fell over. At that moment, I don't it looks like he was either looking forward or looking downward. White shirt man was looking towards the camera and walking down.

At 4:52:15 - the man has completely disappeared. It looks like the blue shirt guy was looking to the left - likely to the seat.

At 4:52:16 and 17 - blue shirt guy was looking completely towards the seats. White shirt man was looking towards the man, but there was nothing to see.

At 4:52:18-20 - blue shirt man look over towards the direction of the man. I'm sure from 18-19, there was nothing visible. Obviously the sames goes to the white shirt guy. By the 20, both white shirt man and blue shirt man seem to be turning towards the camera. The white shirt man turn like a half sec different from the blue shirt man. There might have been something visible, but from his angle, it might have seen nothing. Even if they did, it would be likely in the corner of their eyes as they turn.

At 4:52:21 - Both have completely turned around.

The next 7 seconds is the wife intervening.

By 4:52:28 - the train on the other side start to move, likely masking much if any any screaming for help from the wife.

The later points, the blue shirt guy seems to have noticed the commotion and slowly walked towards the area. The way he was taking half-steps, I would interpret that he was looking for something to help, but see it is handled. The white shirt guy seem to just kept going at his seat.

Of course, it all hard to tell with the blurriness and quality of the pictures.

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Normal human responses are not what we've been condition to believe in TV shows and Movies.

A lot of times when bad things happen, a normal response is to freeze, or to get away for the source.

Some might call it cowardice, but it's also the reason public servants like police and firefighters are put through tough training. Through training they change normal responses to ones of action and muscle memory.

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If we examine it from the perspective of the Grassy Knoll . . .

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"Enhance... enhance..."

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Love the cerise rectangles though. Messages from our Martian overlords?

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Those are probably facial recognition targeting squares seeking to "lock-on" to people. Then your whereabouts can be tracked by the government and/or sold to Facebook or Google for marketing purposes. Seriously. The loss of privacy in America will be self-funded by the bored and stupid.

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Still don't understand why he stepped off the platform. Was he inebriated? I was on the platform at Downtown Crossing a few weeks ago, there was a drunk who was staggering on the platform near the edge; I was watching him in case he came too near the edge. He lurched to the left as a man was walking by who shouldered him away from the edge; the drunkard looked at him like he wanted to hit him.

There seems to be a rash of people and bunnies falling off the platforms.

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It's really amazing that this guy has made it to 56 years old.

Does he cross streets?

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Probably not. They're known for their dangerously wide roads. I'm generalizing, but it's possible that he's used to driving everywhere, even across the street. This might have been the first time he used a subway.

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Meh...epic beard dude rummaging through his bag looks like he'd ignore a chihuahua being raped 10 feet away from him.

Cambridge has some seriously antisocial people. Must be all the asperger's from MIT

Just saying.

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One of those red rectangles totally pushed the guy onto the tracks.

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