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NY man killed when pushed in front of train
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madoka



Joined: 27 Mar 2008

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:48 am    Post subject: NY man killed when pushed in front of train Reply with quote

A Queens dad trying to protect fellow straphangers from a deranged man on a Times Square subway platform was hurled onto the tracks by the lunatic and fatally crushed by a train yesterday, cops and witnesses said.

Ki Suk Han, 58, desperately tried to scramble back to the platform as onlookers screamed, shouted and frantically waved their hands and bags in a bid to get the downtown Q train to stop at around 12:30 p.m.

Post freelance photographer R. Umar Abbasi � who had been waiting on the platform of the 49th Street station � ran toward the train, repeatedly firing off his flash to warn the operator.

�I just started running, running, hoping that the driver could see my flash,� said Abbasi, whose camera captured chilling shots of Suk�s tragic fight for his life.

The train slowed, but a dazed and bruised Han still wound up hopelessly caught between it and the platform as it came to a halt.

A shaken Abbasi said the train �crushed him like a rag doll.�

Dr. Laura Kaplan, a second-year resident at Beth Israel Medical Center who was also on the platform, sprang into action, taking off her coat, grabbing her stethoscope and rushing over to help the dying man.

�People were shouting and yelling when it happened, but then people ran the other way,� said Kaplan, 27.

�I heard what I thought were heart sounds,� she said, but Han never took a breath.

�There was blood coming out his mouth. We couldn�t do CPR. He wasn�t in the right position. and there was just no way to get him out of there.�
Han, who lived with his wife and college-age daughter in Elmhurst, was taken to Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

His attacker was last seen running out of the station�s 47th Street exit � at the north end of Times Square � heading northbound on Seventh Avenue. Cops last night were scouring surveillance video for signs of him.

The killer was described by police as black, 30 to 40 years old, about 5-foot-9, with short dreadlocks. He was wearing a white T-shirt, dark jacket, filthy jeans, black sneakers with a white stripe and a black beanie cap.

The horrific drama unfolded after Han approached the crazed man � who police sources described as a panhandler and witnesses said had been harassing and cursing at straphangers � on the southbound platform and tried to calm him down.

As other riders congregated toward one end of the platform, Han and the man were about 100 feet away from them.

�He went up and tried to calm him down, saying, �You�re scaring people,� � a law-enforcement source said.

�The emotionally disturbed guy just started screaming and cursing, saying, �You don�t know me! You don�t know who I am!� �

As the train�s arrival was announced over the loudspeaker, the attacker �just grabbed [Han] and launched him � just threw him � straight onto the tracks,� a witness said.

The killer then grabbed a paper coffee cup he used to collect change � which he�d put down before the assault � and fled.

-----------------------------------------

Here is the somewhat tasteless heading/image from the NY Post:

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/187ba3bcm63ezjpg/original.jpg
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geldedgoat



Joined: 05 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:04 am    Post subject: Re: NY man killed when pushed in front of train Reply with quote

Tragic doesn't begin to describe what happened to this hero. Why does NYC still not have proper guardrails to prevent people from falling or getting pushed onto the tracks? I know this was in Queens, but that's still no excuse.

madoka wrote:
Post freelance photographer R. Umar Abbasi � who had been waiting on the platform of the 49th Street station � ran toward the train, repeatedly firing off his flash to warn the operator.

�I just started running, running, hoping that the driver could see my flash,� said Abbasi, whose camera captured chilling shots of Suk�s tragic fight for his life.


I call BS on this. Look at the frontpage image that is attributed to this photographer. That is not an image taken by someone running frantically.

The poor man was half-standing with his arms on the platform. Why was no one rushing to his aid?
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madoka



Joined: 27 Mar 2008

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:55 pm    Post subject: Re: NY man killed when pushed in front of train Reply with quote

geldedgoat wrote:
Why was no one rushing to his aid?


According to a doctor who witnessed it, bystanders were too busy running away to help him.

-----------------------------------------

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/nypost-photo-subway-tracks-cover-173659604.html

The New York Post is facing criticism over its decision to publish a front-page photo of a man, pushed onto the subway tracks in Midtown on Monday, trying to climb to safety before being fatally struck by an oncoming train.

Ki Suk Han, a 58-year-old from Queens, N.Y., was hurled from the 49th Street station platform onto the tracks by "a deranged man" around 12:30 p.m., according to the paper. Han was attempting to calm the man, apparently a panhandler, when a scuffle broke out, police say. The man then pushed him onto the tracks.

Witnesses told police the man had been harassing people on the platform. "At least one witness felt that the aggressor was emotionally disturbed," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told The New York Times.

"Onlookers screamed, shouted and frantically waved their hands and bags in a bid to get the downtown Q train to stop," the Post reported.

R. Umar Abbasi, a freelance photographer, was among those waiting on the platform. He said he tried to alert the train's conductor with his camera. "I just started running, running, hoping that the driver could see my flash," Abbasi told the tabloid.

During the chaos, Abbasi managed to snap the photo that the Post splashed on its cover.

In a larger version of Abbasi's photo, people are seen huddled at one end of the platform in apparent fear.

"People were shouting and yelling when it happened," Dr. Laura Kaplan, another witness, said. "But then people ran the other way."

"DOOMED," the Post declared on its front page. "Pushed on the subway track, this man is about to die."

Abbasi did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, nor did representatives for the paper. But plenty of Twitter users expressed outrage. "Sickening rubber-necking front page from the New York Post," Ian Prior wrote on Twitter. "Imagine how this man's family feels."

"I would drop dead if I saw a family member about to be run over by a train on the cover of a newspaper," Chris Spooner wrote. "@nypost trades in snuff."

"Shame on the NY Post," Haverly Elizabeth tweeted. "Though I am less then shocked they'd stoop so low."

"Wow," Daniel Joseph wrote. "The New York Post might be the most tasteless, disgusting, and despicable publication out right now. #Garbage #Classless."

"Horrifying," Katie Zezima wrote on Twitter. "Why did no one help?"

"It was a lot of confusion," Patrick Gomez, another witness, told amNewYork.com. "It was a lot of people getting scared."

Han was taken to St. Luke's Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The train's operator was treated for shock, the MTA said, declining to release his name.

The man who pushed Han fled the station. On Tuesday afternoon, a man police believe is the suspect was taken into custody. His name was not released, but according to NBCNewYork.com, the alleged pusher is "a 30-year-old former deli worker."

He is seen arguing with Han in the video, released by the NYPD, (in the link above.)
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swigs



Joined: 20 Apr 2008

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very very sad. They need rails/plastic walls. And how would a flash help? That would blind the driver.
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

^ Right. And how would the driver know that photographer's apparently secret emergency code in the first place?
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calicoe



Joined: 23 Dec 2008
Location: South Korea

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am so disgusted and horrified by this story, truly. I am from New York and just feel a combination of anger, sadness and shame. I have never known people to just stand around and do nothing like that, and as far as the New York Post rag, I hope they get what they deserve.
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wonder if they have had previous difficulties with this wacko? His history should come out eventually.

It is too easy for someone to throw another person in front of a train. They need rails with gates.
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madoka



Joined: 27 Mar 2008

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

swigs wrote:
And how would a flash help? That would blind the driver.


Seems that Al Roker agrees with you:

The Post published a photo on its front page Tuesday of Han with his head turned toward the train, his arms reaching up but unable to climb off the tracks in time. It was shot by freelance photographer R. Umar Abbasi, who was waiting to catch a train as the situation unfolded.

He told NBC's "Today" show Wednesday that he wasn't trying to take a photo of the man, but was trying to alert the motorman to what was going on by flashing his camera.

He said he was shocked that people nearer to the victim did not try to help in the 22 seconds before the train struck.

"It took me a second to figure out what was happening ... I saw the lights in the distance. My mind was to alert the train," Abbasi said.

"The people who were standing close to him ... they could have moved and grabbed him and pulled him up. No one made an effort," he added.

Ethical and emotional questions arose Tuesday over the published photograph of the helpless man standing before the oncoming train accompanied by the headline that read in part: "This man is about to die."

The moral issue among professional photojournalists in such situations is "to document or to assist," said Kenny Irby, an expert in the ethics of visual journalism at the Poynter Institute, a Florida-based nonprofit journalism school.

Other media outlets chimed in on the controversy, many questioning why the photograph had been taken and published.

"I'm sorry. Somebody's on the tracks. That's not going to help," said Al Roker on NBC's "Today" show as the photo was displayed Tuesday.

Abbasi said he did not control how the images were used in the Post, but he did tell the "Today" show he has sold the images.

----------------------------------

The parts in bold are particularly disturbing.
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everything-is-everything



Joined: 06 Jun 2011

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:01 pm    Post subject: Re: NY man killed when pushed in front of train Reply with quote

geldedgoat wrote:
Tragic doesn't begin to describe what happened to this hero.


Sorry, I don't mean to derail this thread, but hero? The poor old man is a victim, but I don't get why he's a hero.



Anyways, I'm disgusted that nobody attempted to save the guy in the 22 seconds. That's more than enough time.

The photographer is also a dirtbag.


Humanity failed big time on this one.
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Squire



Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Location: Jeollanam-do

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That sucks. I suppose it's just the bystander effect coupled with the short amount of time before the train arrived making it difficult to realise what should have been done

If a fit young guy had acted instantly they could have seen that he was struggling to get back onto the platform, dropped down to give him a boost, then jumped back up. The problem is it would take a moment to see that he can't get up, then a moment to figure out what to do, then by that time it would likely be too late to pull it off

Reaching down to pull him up could work I suppose, but would also likely hinder him if he could have pulled himself up

I suppose the best thing would be to always be aware of the dangers in your immediate vicinity. If you are conscious of them, you could probably act faster in a situation like this. It's a shame nobody was
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 6:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another obvious solution is to slow the trains down before they arrive. This would basically be the same as putting fewer trains on the track therefore they would have to put on extra trains somehow.
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Unibrow



Joined: 20 Aug 2012

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

He was Korean. Is this a hate crime?
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nautilus



Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:05 am    Post subject: Re: NY man killed when pushed in front of train Reply with quote

Outside of Korea people probably don't understand that a shouting ajosshi is just bluster. Looks more agressive than it actually is. My guess is the homeless guy felt more threatened than he needed to be.

Seems to me that most Korean guys don't realise that the sort of behaviour that is normal here (shouting, yelling in other peoples faces, staring agressively) is likely to provoke fights in most other countries of the world. And in most other places.. they aren't too worried about having to pay blood money.


Quote:
NEW YORK � The homeless man charged with shoving a man to his death as a train barreled into a Times Square subway station says the victim instigated the confrontation.

Naeem Davis, 30, was arraigned Wednesday night on a second-degree murder charge and ordered held without bail in the death of 58-year-old Ki-Suck Han, whom he allegedly pushed onto subway tracks on Monday.

As he walked past reporters, Davis said, "He attacked me first. He grabbed me."

Prosecutor James Lin told the judge that Davis watched the train strike Han before leaving the station.

But Davis' Legal Aid lawyer, Stephen Pokart, said outside court that his client reportedly "was involved in an incident with a man who was drunk and angry."

http://news.msn.com/us/homeless-man-blames-subway-victim-for-tragedy

It is tragic how he died, absolutely, but its also beginning to look like alcahol was involved.

Madoka wrote:
The Post published a photo on its front page Tuesday of Han with his head turned toward the train, his arms reaching up but unable to climb off the tracks in time


In such a situation, wouldn't it be better to lie flat between the rails- allowing the train to pass over you?
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The guy claims he was grabbed and shouted at first. So you throw someone who has grabbed and shouted at you into a sunken area with railroad tracks?
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Zackback



Joined: 05 Nov 2010
Location: Kyungbuk

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd be concerned if while helping the guy up the attacker would get pissed at me and push me over as well.
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