Pushed onto the Subway Tracks: Can One Survive?

A Queens man was killed after being brutally pushed onto the subway tracks in Midtown Manhattan on Monday.

Police arrested a man Tuesday afternoon who is suspected of pushing Ki Suk Han onto the tracks shortly before a Q line train approached. Onlookers tried desperately to get the attention of the operator to stop the train before tragedy struck. But to no avail.

The Queens dad tried to lift himself out of the tracks to safety, but ended up caught between the subway and the tracks as commuters watched in horror. The attacker had reportedly been "menacing" others at the station, and it is still unknown what provoked him to commit such an assault.

Mayor Bloomberg lamented over the tragedy, but maintained that these kinds of occurrences are incredibly rare. According to Slate, only about 3% of subway track fatalities are a result of someone being pushed.

The article further goes on to advise someone who might unluckily find themselves in such a precarious position. One tip is to look for a space underneath the edge of the platform. They note that there is often enough space to fit one person between the platform and the subway. Another suggestion is to lie flat on the tracks and hope there is enough clearance between you and the train to only cause minor injuries (this actually worked in 2007 when a man fell onto the tracks after a seizure and was pinned down by a Vietnam vet).

Foreign transit systems have created ways to prevent these kinds of deaths with separations between the platforms and tracks and by creating deeper trenches beneath the tracks.

Seems your best bet would be to try to escape from the tracks as quickly as possible and return to the platform. I suppose the most positive take away is that this is a very rare occurrence.

Police are investigating the tragedy and more information will surely be released as it becomes available.