According to police, the 45-year-old man, who has not yet been unidentified, was killed by an incoming Bronx subway car. However, his daughter’s life was spared after she miraculously found refuge on the tracks.
Cellphone footage of the dramatic events shows two unidentified men inching toward the girl on the tracks in an attempt to save her life, before eventually raising her up on the platform at the Kingsbridge Road station. Nearby commuters are seen quickly rushing toward the child to provide comfort. The footage does not show the girl’s deceased father.
The child was subsequently transported to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, where she was treated for scratches and lacerations, the New York Times reported. The two bystanders who jumped onto the tracks to save the girl’s life were also treated for minor injuries at the St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx. The girl was eventually reunited with her mother, according to the New York Post.
“She got lucky,” one police source, referring to the child, is quoted as saying by the New York Post. “It’s amazing that she’s alive.”
According to eyewitness Pamela Ivy, the child’s dad was talking to his wife on the phone moments before he plunged to his death.
“‘I heard him telling the wife that, ‘You look out for the other two kids, I’m gonna take her to school.’ And then he said, ‘I love you,’” Ivy is quoted as saying by Metro.
The subway service was temporarily halted while police conducted an investigation on the incident.