Man Killed By Red Line Subway

A 57-year old man was fatally injured after being struck by an inbound Red Line train at the Kendall Square station yesterday morning.

According to the Cambridge Chronicle, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority has identified the victim, but no details have been released.

“The investigation is ongoing,” MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson.

First responders to the incident, which took place around 11:20 a.m., shut down power to the third rail of the subway tracks in order to reach the victim.

As a result, Red Line service between Park Street and Harvard Square was temporarily suspended, and shuttle buses were used to ferry passengers while the MBTA Transit Police began their investigation.

Lily L. Hsiang ’13 was riding the Red Line back to Harvard following Thanksgiving break and was at the Park Street station when the incident occurred.

“First [the subway conductor] said that we were going express to Harvard Square...Then we were told there was an emergency medical situation at Kendall Square and that we had to get off the train,” Hsiang said.

The passengers then exited the train at Park Street where, according to Hsiang, bus service was not yet available.  “Everyone was just mobbing for cabs,” she said.

By 1:30 p.m., bus service was discontinued and Red Line operation returned to normal between the two locations.

The Kendall Square incident follows other recent subway-related deaths. On Nov. 15, a 41-year old woman was hit and killed by an Orange Line train, and a 74-year old man was killed in October when he slipped and fell underneath a commuter rail train in Newton. In May 2009, a Red Line train at Porter Square struck and killed a man.