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Good Samaritan Jumps Onto SEPTA Tracks to Save Passenger Who Fell Off Subway Platform

Surveillance video from inside a Center City Philadelphia subway station shows the dramatic moments after a man fell onto the tracks.

The video released by SEPTA Thursday shows a man stagger to his left and off the platform at the Market-Frankford Line’s 15th Street Station around 6:40 Wednesday night.

Within moments a man in an Eagles coat, later identified as 28-year-old Charles Collins, turns around and darts toward the tracks – jumping off the platform. Other passengers rush forward to help the fallen man, later identified as Alfred McNamee – then the Good Samaritan – up onto the platform.

"This was a case where everybody almost in view jumped in and got involved," said SEPTA Police Chief Thomas Nestal.

Less than a minute later, SEPTA officers arrived to tend to the man who fell.

The men who fell is expected to survive his injuries, which include various broken bones, said SEPTA. Collins suffered a minor leg injury.

The transit agency commended the fast-thinking passengers but warned that someone could have been seriously hurt if they came in contact with the third rail. The agency suggested that the passengers should have notified the cashier or used the emergency call box to get the electricity shut off.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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