A commuter was crushed to death when he fell through a large gap between a train and a platform on the London Underground.
Jama Mohamed Warsame, 59, was fatally injured while travelling back to his home in east London.
He had stayed overnight in Lambeth on the morning of May 26, 2020 – when England was in the first Covid-19 lockdown.
There were no TFL staff or other passengers on the platform, so no one spotted the victim falling through the gap between the northbound Bakerloo line platform three, and the train from which he had just got off at Waterloo Station.
Mr Warsame struggled to set himself free for more than a minute as he attempted to climb out.
He tried to draw attention by waving his arms, but the train departed with him still in the gap, crushing him as it moved off.
The Londoner lay on the tracks ‘motionless’ for another 85 seconds before being hit by a second train.
As part of an investigation into the horrific accident, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said Mr Warsame had ‘stumbled’ while getting off the train.
He then fell into a large gap caused by the curve of the track at the station at around 10.10am, a report said.
Due to his position on the tracks, he was ‘difficult to detect on dispatch monitors’ and was not spotted by train operators.
No others were present to assist him or raise the alarm, the report added.
CCTV footage from Waterloo Station examined by RAIB shows a woman signaling the second train as it arrived on the platform.
The report said: ‘The member of the public told the train operator that there was smoke coming from the train, so the train operator made another call to the service controller to report the smoke, secured the train and left the cab to investigate.
‘Walking back along the platform, the train operator realised there was a person under the train and ran back to the cab to inform the service controller and request that the traction current should be switched off.’
Emergency services arrived at the platform at 10.24am – nearly 15 minutes after Mr Warsame fell.
Passenger levels on the Underground were 9% of the same day in 2019, according to data from the Department of Transport (DfT).
It comes after a passenger was fatally injured after falling in the gap on the southbound Bakerloo line platform at Waterloo on September 27, 2015.
An investigation concluded that London Underground was not able to identify or provide detailed assessment of all factors, such as curved platforms, that contributed to risks of accidents at certain Tube stations.
The RAIB recommended that ongoing evaluation of existing safety measures be undertaken at stations as well as ‘periodic’ risk assessments for individual locations.
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