BEDFORD STUYVESANT, Brooklyn (WABC) — A 57-year-old man was killed after he was trapped in the doors of an A train and dragged through a crowded Brooklyn subway station Monday evening.
Authorities identified the victim as Yaw Boahene. Police said he was getting off a train at the Utica Avenue station in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn when his bag got stuck in the doors shortly before 6 p.m.
Investigators said Boahene was dragged across seven carriages before hitting the wall at the end of the station leading to the tunnel, before finally tumbling onto the tracks. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gabriel Broadus was walking home from school, described the incident as horrific and said it left her traumatized.
She told Eyewitness News that people on the platform panicked after witnessing the incident and she called the police for help.
“Conductors are supposed to pay attention and make sure people don’t find themselves in this situation. That’s all, they give a thumbs up, that’s what’s supposed to happen. And it didn’t happen,” Broadus said. “There was no one to turn to. And we know the police, they can come as fast as they can, but the train was already on Nostrand Avenue at that point, like what, what help is that going to do?”
Authorities said the incident appears to have been accidental, but investigators continue to work to determine exactly what happened in the moments before the man’s death.
The train driver told the MTA he looked and didn’t see anyone being dragged. He was removed from his post pending the results of an investigation.
The train was inspected and no mechanical problems were found.
Although rare, similar incidents have occurred on the New York City subway. A 20-year-old man was similarly killed at the Columbus Circle station in 2022, and a 51-year-old man was dragged to his death at the Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike station in 2016.
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