By Alejandro Serrano, Ryan Grewal and Alex Eng, News Staff
A man was struck and killed by a train at Ruggles Station Monday afternoon, according to a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Transit Police official.
At approximately 2:40 p.m., a man was walking in the area of the tracks when he was struck by an outbound Orange Line train to Forest Hills, according to Richard Sullivan, superintendent of MBTA Transit Police. Officials did not identify the man.
“Unfortunately, that man was pronounced deceased as a result of injuries sustained,” Sullivan told reporters at the scene. “Transit police detectives are investigating this, but I do want everyone to know no foul play is suspected.”
Jakob Farnham, a freshman chemical engineering major, said he was walking through Ruggles Station when he heard the incident from the tracks below.
“I was walking out of [International Village] through Ruggles. I got to just about the staircase on Centennial,” Farnham said. “When I got there, I heard screeching, squealing, like metal on metal, and then it sounded like a door slamming; and then I heard the screaming.”
Daniel Minchoff, Northeastern University area coordinator for International Village (IV) informed IV residents that Ruggles Station was closed to through traffic via email around 3:30 p.m., according to the email obtained by The News.
“Please note that due to an emergency situation in Ruggles Station, access through the station is currently shut down,” the email read. “Please go around through the Columbus Ave[nue] Garage or down Ruggles Street by West Village until further notice.”
Officers from Transit Police, Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD) and Boston Police Department (BPD) held a perimeter around the entrance to the Orange Line tracks as medical staff and firefighters transported the victim to a Transit Police vehicle.
There is no evidence that suggests the victim was affiliated with Northeastern, according to an email from university spokesperson Matthew McDonald. NUPD alerted followers via Twitter shortly after the incident.
Police involved incident at Ruggles MBTA Station. Asking for your cooperation avoiding by the area until further notice. More to follow.
— NU Police Department (@northeasternpd) November 7, 2016
Commuters were instructed to take the Longwood Medical and Academic commuter shuttle or other train lines while the Orange Line was closed from Haymarket to Jackson Square. Commuter rail service through Ruggles Station was not interrupted.
Regular service “with moderate residual delays” was restored on the Orange Line approximately an hour and a half minutes after the incident, according to an update posted to the MBTA’s website at 4:29 p.m.
BPD and MBTA Transit Police will investigate the incident, Sullivan said.
Sullivan would not speculate on whether the victim attempted to commit suicide.
“Going forward, we will review public safety cameras, we will interview people who knew the decedent and anyone else who may have been on scene,” Sullivan said.
This is a developing story.
Photo by Alejandro Serrano
