Jun 20, 2008 2:07 pm US/Central
Freak Metra Accident Leaves Woman Injured
Crossing Gate Gets Stuck In Train Doors
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
A woman riding a Metra train was seriously injured when a gate arm lodged in the train's door, which was then pushed in on her Thursday morning on the South Side.
The incident occurred about 7:30 a.m. Thursday near the intersection of West 93rd Street and South Vincennes Avenue, according to Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet.
Fire Media Affairs Chief Kevin MacGregor said a woman was taken from Metra's 95th Street station in serious condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn about 7:30 a.m.
An inbound Metra Rock Island express train from Joliet was traveling 30 mph because of unrelated track work when it passed a crossing gate where the gate's arm, which was "off kilter" and sticking out in a way it should not have been scraped the side of the train and became wedged in a rubber seam between two closed doors, Pardonnet said.
The woman was standing on steps "very close to the door'' in a vestibule area. "As the train passed, the arm of the gate was caught on the rubber seal of the door and pushed the whole door towards the woman inside,'' according to Pardonnet who said the woman was injured when she was hit by the door.
The gate's arm did not snap off and no one else was injured in the incident, which delayed the train about 20 minutes while the woman was cared for.
"We don't know why it happened,'' according to Pardonnet, who said Metra police are investigating how the incident occurred and looking for anyone who might have seen anything in the crossing gate area, as the mechanism that holds the gate's arm seemed to have been damaged.
They haven't ruled out the possibility a car may have struck the structure and said 20 minutes before the incident, it seemed to be fine, as a train passed with no similar incident.
Anyone with information should call (312) 322-2800.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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