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Fall Off LIRR Platform Proves Fatal
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 7, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 7, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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On Saturday, a teenager visiting from Minnesota was killed by a Long Island Railroad train in a strange and scary accident. Natalie Smead and her father had been visiting relatives on Long Island, and she headed to Randall's Island for a Dave Matthew Band concert with other relatives and friends. She was getting off a westbound train at the Woodside, Queens station when she fell between the platform and the train car onto the tracks. And when she tried to get back up, the LIRR spokesman said, "She may have crossed under the platform to get to the other side and was struck by a train going in the other direction." Her injuries - including an amputated leg - were so severe that she died a few hours later. For all the people who take LIRR, how big are the gaps between the platform and the train? This gap seems almost unreasonably big if a person can fall through it.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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