Elderly woman falls between train and platform at Lo Wu Station

MTR passengers and staff worked together to save an 83-year-old woman who fell into the gap between the train and the platform at Lo Wu Station earlier this week.

The 83-year-old, surnamed Lo, was stepping off the train at around 9:20am on Monday when she missed the platform and fell onto the train tracks.

A passenger, surnamed Zhang, told Sing Tao Daily that he used his body to block the train doors from closing as other passengers pressed the emergency stop button and called for help. Zhang said he and other passengers spent the next two minutes telling Lo to stay calm and still as they waited for help.

Two MTR workers arrived roughly two minutes later, hopped down onto the tracks and lifted Lo towards the platform, where Zhang reportedly helped pull her back to safety.

Lo, who was travelling with relatives, was sent to hospital for a checkup and discharged on the same day. After receiving a complaint from Zhang, DAB legislator Ann Chiang hit out at MTR Corp. in a press conference for failing to provide adequate safety measures at stations with large gaps between the train and the platform. 

“This gap … is almost as wide as three or four palms,” Chiang told reporters. “Of course, young people can jump across easily, but think about the elderly … how are they supposed to step that far?”

Chiang called for MTR Corp.’s upper management to tackle the problem by installing platform screen doors and other security measures. 

 


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