Police, passengers help man on Atlanta subway tracks

Mike Krumboltz

An Atlanta police officer and a good Samaritan helped save a man who had fallen onto the tracks of the MARTA subway shortly before a train was scheduled to arrive, 11Alive.com reports.

Kenneth Hunter was pulled from the tracks by transit police officer Deonte Robinson and assisted by Rob Roberts, who jumped onto the tracks to help get the man to safety.

Robinson was one floor above the platform on Monday when he heard screaming. He ran down the escalator and saw a man on the tracks as well as a train approaching the station, according to 11Alive.com.

Being familiar with the Atlanta rail system, Robinson knew that he had to avoid contact with the electric third rail. "I didn't know when I came down if the power had been cut or not. I just saw a patron in distress," Robinson told 11Alive.com on Tuesday.

Passenger Roberts also saw the commotion and, along with several other passengers, jumped down to help get Hunter to safety. Roberts told 11Alive.com that he was in town for a teaching convention.

"There were other people trying to push him up at the time," Roberts told 11Alive.com. "They were lifting him, and I kind of gave his backside an extra push to get him up there. It was a little scary. And I wasn't sure, you know, jumping down there, whether or not the train was going to be on us. And then the train did come, but it stopped at the entrance."

Channel 2 Action News reported that workers quickly cut the power to the rails.

In an interview with 11Alive.com, Hunter said he wanted to express his gratitude to those who had risked their lives to save his.

"They took care of me, I'm alive, now. They came in there and took care of everything, and I'm grateful," Hunter told 11Alive.com.

Subway workers and police officers are often the first line of defense when it comes to rescuing passengers who fall onto the tracks. Several months ago, Danny Hay, a New York MTA worker, helped a passenger who had fallen onto the tracks and was having a seizure. And in January, an off-duty police officer at a Madrid subway station rescued a woman who had fainted and fell onto the tracks.