Subway worker stops disabled man's suicide bid

/ Courtesy of Facebook

By Lee Ji-hye

A subway station employee has stopped a disabled man’s attempt to kill himself.

The wheelchair-bound man had tried to roll onto the tracks in front of an arriving train.

Busan Metropolitan City’s district office has posted surveillance video on its Facebook page that shows the employee’s desperate efforts to save the man.

“Our subway employee ran towards the scene when we saw through the CCTV footage how someone was attempting to speed towards the end of the platform,” the city said on its Facebook page.

“It was a heart-stopping five minutes for both the worker and the passerby that helped save the disabled man’s life. We applaud the worker for maintaining focus on the safety of all citizens here.”

In the video, the man in the wheelchair speeds towards the end of the platform soon after the train’s pending arrival is announced

The employee blocks the man, fighting to stop the heavy wheelchair. A person who is waiting for a train helps him.

Following the incident, regional police said automatic glass doors would be installed on all subway platforms.

The Busan Metro said 87 of 108 subway stations had the doors and it confirmed plans to install them at the remaining 21 by 2016.