Elderly woman falls through Hong Kong MTR platform gap, gets rescued by passers-by and station staff

An elderly woman had the shock of her life when she stepped out of a train at an MTR station in Hong Kong and plunged to the track, reigniting calls for the rail operator to look urgently at safety measures at platform gaps.

A witness said when he exited the train in question, after it arrived at Lo Wu station on Monday, he heard a cleaning employee yelling for help.

“The cleaner was yelling for help because an elderly woman fell through the track when she stepped out of the train and missed the platform,” the witness, who asked only to be identified by his surname Zhang, said.

“I saw her lying down there and I immediately used my body to stop the train’s car door from closing and keep the train from leaving the platform,” he added.

Photos Zhang took showed a terrified elderly woman lying spread-eagle with her back on the track.

Zhang and other passengers called out to the woman, telling her not to move in case the train began moving over her.