[UPDATE BELOW] An unidentified man was fatally struck by an E train as it entered the Roosevelt Avenue station at approximately 9:10 a.m. this morning. The FDNY tells us the victim was pronounced DOA, and the MTA restored power about an hour later, once the body was removed. As a result, one tipster says it took two hours to get from Forest Hills to midtown this morning, and an MTA spokesman says E and F trains were running local between 71 Ave and Queens Plaza and bypassing Roosevelt Avenue in both directions for about an hour.
Another witness tells us, "Saw body bag and it definitely looked like there was severe trauma. People were pointing an area under the train." M service was suspended in both directions from Essex to 71st Ave, but regular service has now been resumed. Nevertheless, the incident snarled the rush hour commute for many straphangers. Fortunately, Twitter was open to vent their frustration:
So apparently there is a fucking POLICE INVESTIGATION at Roosevelt ave so there are NO manhattan bound trains -____- so I had to get off
—ilana D. (@_AyOliqHtskiN) March 13, 2012
There's nothing like starting the day w/ someone probably getting hit by the train at Roosevelt Ave (what the MTA calls a "customer injury).
— nadia chaudhury (@nadiachaudhury) March 13, 2012
Stuck on the F train at 63rd Drive... Apparently there is a police investigation at Roosevelt Ave. Work is in 10 minutes... #FML
— Celestina Maduro (@CeLest3na) March 13, 2012
Someone just jumped in front of the train at Roosevelt ave station...everyone has been rerouted...can't even believe this
— Emma (@suchadilemma) March 13, 2012
2nd day in a row that the NYC subway E train schedule ha been subjected to an "earlier incident"; where's my bike?
— Steve Levy (@levyrecruits) March 13, 2012
Neither the FDNY nor the NYPD press office could provide any details on what caused the incident, but we'll update as more details about the fatal accident become available.
Update: One straphanger writes in to say, "Got there a few minutes after this happened. Terrible feeling in the air when I got to the entryway. Apparently the man was partially naked and threw himself in front of the train right as it pulled in the station. Commuters were crying on the platform."
Update 2:45 p.m.: Another witness corroborates: "This happened right in front of my eyes during rush hour at Roosevelt Avenue—it was terrible and shocking at the same time. He was a medium built guy (seemed Asian to me), did not see his face. He got off the F train coming from Jamaica going to Manhattan.
"The guy was wearing no pants whatsoever. He was walking dangerously close to the edge of the platform and as the E train pulled in the kid jumped. To me the guy did not seem to be in the right state of mind was either mentally challenged, drunk or under the influence... It was terrible and all the commuters including myself were devastated after that."
