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Stockwell station incident: Man 'hit in head by Tube train' during rush hour on London Underground

The man, in his 20s, was taken to hospital but his condition is unknown

Lizzie Dearden
Friday 10 April 2015 09:57 EDT
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Stockwell London Underground station was closed after the man was hit by a train. Photo: Emily Shackleton
Stockwell London Underground station was closed after the man was hit by a train. Photo: Emily Shackleton (Emily Shackleton/Twitter)

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A man is in a critical condition after being hit in the head by a Northern line tube train at Stockwell London Underground station this morning.

Passengers recalled hearing screaming coming from the platform and seeing "blood everywhere" before they were evacuated at around 9am.

Witness accounts suggested that the horrific injury was an accident, with the man reportedly reaching down for something on the tracks, possibly a dropped bag or lighter.

“Apparently the guy was hit by a tube at Stockwell when he leant over to get his bag,” Emily Shackleton, a student, wrote on Twitter.

Passengers were trapped on the train for almost 15 minutes before it could pull fully into the platform and they could disembark.

Another commuter said she was in "absolute shock" after seeing the man being struck and passengers described paramedics working on the platform to save him.

A spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service said it was called at 8.53am and sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic on a motorcycle, duty station officer and London's air ambulance.

“We treated a man reported to be in his 20s for head injuries and he was taken as a priority to King's College Hospital,” she added.

Several police cars and ambulances were photographed outside the station as the air ambulance landed in a nearby estate.

A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “We were called to Stockwell London Underground station at 8.52am on Friday, 10 April, to reports of a person being struck by a train.

“Colleagues from Metropolitan Police Service and London Ambulance Service also attended, and a man, believed to be in his twenties, was taken to hospital for treatment.

“The incident is not being treated as suspicious at this time.”

Stockwell station was closed to northbound Northern and Victoria line services after the incident but has now fully reopened.

The incident has already sparked renewed calls for safety barriers on platforms, with one person writing on Twitter: "The incident at Stockwell station is horrific. So sad. @TfL how many more people have to die before you put barriers by the track!"

It comes after a man was killed trying to pull his brother off the tracks Old Street station and a 28-year-old woman was dragged under a train at Clapham South station.

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