Warning: this post describes a deadly accident that I have witnessed today. Please do not proceed with reading if you feel unsure if you can handle descriptions of violent deaths. I write here to cope with what, I hope, does not remain inside me as a trauma.
It is Hamburg, I left Morad’s apartment heading to the airport to fly to Zürich. Due to some construction work unaccounted for in Google Maps, I missed the direct Bus by 20 seconds. I had to take another route. A bus, a tram and then finally here I am waiting for the train that will take me to the airport. The sign showed a delay. The train didn’t show up. The next one is scheduled in 5 minutes. Meanwhile, another train arrived and unloaded many people. Its sign read “Bitte nicht einsteigen”, please do not mount the train. And it set going.
I heard a lot of screaming.. I turned my head to see a human body stuck between the moving train and the platform. It was the upper half of the body. The train kept on moving and led to more hits to the body. It seemed forever. In the first glance I had goosebumps. I turned my head away because I know two things. There is no way this person will survive this accident, and what I will see will remain with me forever. I kept looking away.. Wanting to shout: “please don’t look”. But then I was also looking back at the victim, wondering if there is anything to do. We shouted “STOP”! but in vain. There was no way the train driver would hear any of our shouts.
The train was gone. Some people approached the body on the tracks. They carried him to the platform. It took me a couple of seconds to remember that I am a doctor and the possibility that the poor victim might still be alive. I joined the people, identified myself, and thought I felt a pulse in his carotid artery. A passerby who seemed to be a Spanish nurse started reanimating. He was shouting that we have to respirate him. I saw a woman calling the emergency. I shouted that we needed a defibrillator and a woman came to me saying that she will fetch one from 100 meters away. We alternated the pressing, there was no chest wall because of the trauma.
Meanwhile, we were a big group of civilians that had rescue backgrounds, a nurse, a firefighter, and a first-aid worker. I checked his pupils, which were wide and not reactive. The defibrillator came, we put the electrodes on the chest, “no shock advised”. The defibrillator didn’t detect any pulse. We kept on CPR till the ambulance team came. After the body check, it was clear that it is too late. May he rest in peace.
I turned my head to find another collection of people. An Arabic lady seems to have collapsed and lost consciousness, affected by the whole scene. She was twitching with closed eyes. A strong pulse. A policeman was holding her legs up. I tried to contact her until she came back to her senses.
I looked around me, the station was full of people on duty. Policemen, first-aid workers, and other helpers. I gave my contacts to the police and asked for permission to catch my flight. I spent the rest of the day with a heavy sadness. As a doctor, we are used to injuries and death. But witnessing the whereabouts and the events is a heavy load. I wrote this here to clear my head and my heart, and as an attempt to cope with what happened today. I apologize if I made you sad.
Update: here is the news covering about the accident.
and the person who pushed the victim was caught: