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Man Survives 625-Volt Tumble Onto Third Rail
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 9, 2010
Modified Sep 9, 2010
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 9, 2010
Modified Sep 9, 2010
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A man miraculously survived a roll in the hay with the third rail Monday night, despite being zapped with 625-volts of electricity. Witnesses say Andy Morris, 44, was pushed onto the tracks at the Broadway Junction station in East New York after a drawn out drunken argument. "He first started twitching and then you started seeing smoke coming from his head. You could smell the flesh burning," witness Marlon Probherbs told the Daily News.
Morris, a currently unemployed construction worker, doesn't remember the events of the evening: "When they electrocuted me, they erased my memory." But witnesses say that he got into a verbal argument with two younger passengers while on a Queens-bound A train; the argument spilled onto the subway platform 10 stops later. Witnesses told cops that Morris was drunk and belligerent, and took a couple swings at the other men. Probherbs says Morris was as much an instigator as he was victim, but a third party watching the melee at the platform is the person who pushed him onto the tracks. Witnesses told police they were certain he was killed.
Despite surviving his brush with the third rail, Morris, who lives at Samaritan Village, a homeless shelter in East New York, fears he won't be able to work again: "My fingers are fried." Police have not charged Morris with any crimes. In April, a MTA track worker died from a third rail electrocution; the union says the third rail was turned off during the work, but for some reason, it was turned on again.
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east new york
electrocution
MTA
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third rail
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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