The passenger door in the Boston subway car did not work properly when a person was stuck in it and was dragged to death last month, federal investigators said Monday.
A previous report by the National Transport Safety Council wrote that trains are equipped with safety devices that prevent them from moving when the doors are closed.
“NTSB investigators inspected and tested a train car that was involved after the accident, finding a malfunction in the local door control system that allowed the train to move with the door closed,” the statement said.
The MBTA in a statement Monday described the problem as a “short circuit”.
A man named by local authorities Robinson LalinThe 39-year-old from Boston died around 12:30 a.m. on April 12 when he got off the Massachusetts Bay Red Line train of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Administration at Broadway Station.
Lalina’s right hand was stuck in the doorway and he was dragged more than 100 feet along the platform to the bottom surface near the tracks, the NTSB said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The NTSB has confirmed the MBTA’s initial assessment of a short circuit in the wiring, which allowed the train to start running when Mr Lalin tried to get out through a closed door,” the MBTA said in a statement.
The MBTA inspected the doors on the other carriages and found no similar problems.
“During rigorous testing, the problem with the car of the accident could not be duplicated in any of the other Red Line cars of the same make and model,” said T.
The car and the train operator are not working.
The investigation is ongoing. The NTSB has so far inspected and tested train equipment, viewed safety videos, monitored train operation, conducted interviews and conducted remote observations.
The NTSB said Monday’s report is preliminary and could be changed.
“He was literally killed to death, my uncle didn’t deserve it,” said Kelvin Lalin, Robinson’s nephew. said CBS Boston. “We are saddened, my family is, frankly, devastated. And we are even more devastated after reading the report. “
Lalina’s family held a rally at Broadway Station, calling for justice, according to CBS Boston.
“It was a careless situation that could have been avoided,” said Kelvin Lalin.
Last year with the MBTA there were other security issues. Nine people were injured in September when an escalator at Back Bay Station failed, and more than two dozen went to the hospital last July when the Green Line train moved behind another trolleybus.
A statement from T said security was a priority, and the agency had spent $ 8 billion on infrastructure and vehicle investments over the past five years and nearly doubled the size of its security department over the past three years.
