Wednesday 31, May
Passengers climb out of U-Bahn, one man is electrocuted
Early on Monday morning, a technical defect on the U8 led to an extremely dangerous situation when passengers stuck inside the train forced the doors open on the idling vehicle and climbed out onto the tracks. The video of the incident circulating on Instagram looks chaotic but relatively carefree. However, according to police, a 25-year-old man was seriously injured during the incident when he came into contact with the conductor rail and was electrocuted.
The BVG would not confirm how long the train was standing still before passengers decided to open the doors, but witnesses reported it was about 10 or 15 minutes. The train was stuck between the stations of Kottbusser Tor and Moritzplatz, but apparently there was no call to evacuate, nor any need: the first doors of the train had already reached the platform at Kotti when it came to a standstill.
A spokesperson for the BVG emphasised how dangerous it can be to leave the train when no evacuation order has been given – emphasising that the driving voltage of the vehicle is shut off only once an evacuation is planned and, even then, a dangerous residual charge can be present.
