Fenchurch Street: Commuters' horror as man collapses and 'dragged along platform by train' in rush hour

He has been rushed to hospital
The man fell against a commuter train at Fenchurch Street.
Rex Features

A man is in hospital after collapsing next to a train and being dragged along the platform at a busy commuter station.

Witnesses described seeing the man - thought by passers-by to be in his 60s - swaying before falling over at Fenchurch Street station during evening rush hour on Friday.

Fellow passengers and staff rushed to help him following his fall, which happened at around 5pm on Friday.

London workers on their way home for the weekend described seeing a guy “with blood all over his head” on platform one.

Police and paramedics were called and the man was taken to a local hospital.

Commuter Eve Read told the Standard: “I had seen an elderly man swaying whilst standing at platform and wondered briefly if he were unwell.

“I'm not sure that it was the same gentleman, but my understanding from others present who did see some or all of what happened was that he fell, possibly unconscious, at the wrong time and got dragged along by train for a short distance.

“The train was just pulling in so going slow but still a shock for those who saw it and several women screamed.

Fenchurch Street is a busy commuter hub.
PA Archive/PA Images

“He had a head injury for sure but seemed fairly with it.”

She added: “People and staff were very attentive and were looking after him. He was talking to those caring for him but they were waiting for medical professionals to arrive as I left.

“So he seemed to be doing ok, but they obviously didn't want to move him until he had been attended to by professionals.”

A spokesman for the British Transport Police said officers were called to the station after a report a man had fallen over between a slow-moving train coming into the station and the platform edge.

“Officers from the BTP and City of London Police attended the incident, which was reported to BTP at 5pm and is currently being treated as non-suspicious.

“Medics from the London Ambulance Service also attended and the male was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.”

Trains from Fenchurch Street are run by c2c and have routes through Essex to commuter town Shoeburyness.

Rail operator c2c warned that services were not running from Fenchurch Street and commuters should instead pick up the service in Barking. One train was cancelled and many routes were altered but by 7pm services were running as normal.

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