Man Down on South Bound D Train Tracks at Columbus Circle, "DOA"

Well over a dozen emergency vehicles responded to the Columbus Circle Subway Station on 59th St. at approximately 12:30 am early this morning to reports of a person hit by a train. The following information was reported via my Twitter as I gathered it at the scene.

A dozen or more emergency vehicles arrived at the Columbus Circle subway station N.W. entrance at approximately 12:30 am early this morning. A NY Post photographer present outside the station relayed to me that a person was hit by a train, and was dead. Moments later two EMT's walked past on their way into the station, and asked an officer "where is it?" to which the officer replied, "on the south bound D tracks."

The officer mentioned something inaudible to his partner, and noted, "he's DOA."

The station was open and in use, and I walked inside to see what was going on. All tracks and entrances were operating normally aside for one set of stairs leading down to the south bound train platform, which were roped off at the top with police tape, preventing passage to the platform. Standing at the tape allowed a view of the platform, where the front car of a train was stopped in the station. A dozen officers stood about, with a few more Fire Fighters and EMT's also present. Approximately 10 feet in from the front of the train, was a yellow sheet covering an object on the platform about the size of an exercise ball, an object which laid directly against the train. Laying messily near the sheet were a dozen or so credit card sized papers, which looked like i.d., business cards, etc...

In the spacing that exists between the train and the platform, you could see what looked like fabric—it appeared to be a jacket—peeking out from under the sheet. I overheard an officer on the platform mention, while looking towards the sheet, "there is one over there, and one under the train," and I wondered if the object under the sheet was half of a body.

A plain clothes officer saw me standing at the police tape tapping away on my phone, and marched directly up to me, demanding, "who are you with? who are you?" I told him in answer to both questions, "no one" to which he sternly replied, "you need to leave, you can't be here."

So I did.