From
Philstar.
MANILA, Philippines - A woman jumped to her death in front of an approaching train at the Light Rail Transit’s EDSA station in Pasay City yesterday morning.
The unidentified victim died on the spot after her head was crushed by the train at around 5:50 a.m. LRT Authority spokesman Hernando Cabrera told ABS-CBN that footage taken by closed-circuit television cameras show the “woman jumped into the tracks right after the platform guard walked by her.”
The woman, described to be between the ages of 50 and 60, was wearing jeans and a gray shirt, according to police. She had no other items on her person except an LRT ticket and P29 in coins.
The woman’s suicide disrupted operations at the rail line, forcing it to operate only from Roosevelt to the Central Station until around 6:30 a.m., right at the start of the morning rush hour.
Cabrera said they were able to resume full rail line operations at the LRT Line 1 at around 9:35 a.m.
No suicide watch
Cabrera said they “don’t really have a suicide watch” for LRT Lines 1 and 2 and the Metro Rail Transit. “Generally, our security guards are told to watch for suspicious behavior, and this would include those planning a suicide attempt or a terrorist with malicious intentions,” he said.
Cabrera said suicides usually involve persons suffering from financial problems or heartbreak.
He said there have been 24 suicide cases – 10 of them successful – since 1984, when the LRT Line 1 started operating. The first case, an unsuccessful attempt, was in 1989.
The highest number of cases for one year was seven, five of them successful, in 1998. “That may have been due to the hard economic times then after the 1997 financial crisis,” Cabrera said.
The next highest number of cases was posted in 2005, with four cases, one of them successful.
Do you know what's crazy about this incident? The fact that the police is charging the train driver for homicide.
Here's the story from
ABS-CBN News.
MANILA, Philippines - The driver of an LRT train that ran over a woman who jumped to her death at the LRT Edsa Pasay station early Thursday morning could face criminal charges, police said.
The incident may have been a suicide, but the train driver is still facing charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, according to Police Officer 3 Rodolfo Suquina of the Pasay PNP criminal investigation division.
"Morally convinced na kami na suicide talaga gawa ng wala namang ibang sirkumstansiya na magbigay duda doon sa parte namin, maliban lamang doon sa issue na bumaba siya then lumuhod siya, then nasagasaan siya," Suquina said.
Atty. Hernando T. Cabrera, LRTA Corporate Board secretary and spokesperson, told ABS-CBNNews.com that he does not know why police will charge the yet-to-be-identified driver.
"[I] am not really sure why. I understand dapat siya ma-subject sa proper investigation, pero kasuhan?" he said.
"It's not us filing any criminal case against the driver. In fact we can file case against anyone unduly going down the tracks," Cabrera said.
"I remember an article I read that in Japan, the family of anyone commiting suicide sa train system will be held for all financial losses," he said.
The woman who jumped in front of the LRT train has also yet to be named.
In a CCTV footage taken at the LRT station, the woman is seen slowly walking from the ticket booth to the platform.
One passenger even tried to help her.
In the next moments, after a security guard walked by her at the platform, the woman jumped to the tracks, as a train arrived.
Another CCTV camera shows that as the train approached the station, the woman jumped and then kneeled while holding the tracks.
Other passengers were taken by surprise.
"Pagtalon niya, wala siyang attempt to escape the situation. Ipinuwesto pa niya ang sarili to make sure tatamaan siya ng tren," Cabrera said.
Train operations from Vito Cruz station to Roosevelt, and from Roosevelt to Gil Puyat were suspended.
Nearly 200,000 passengers were affected because the incident happened during peak hours.
The LRT 1 operations returned to normal at past 9 a.m.
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