Man Dies on Brooklyn Subway Tracks After Bag Gets Caught in Doors

A 57-year-old man died in Brooklyn on Monday evening after his bag was reportedly caught in closing subway doors, pulling him underneath the train.

Police responding to a 911 call found Yaw Boahene “unconscious and unresponsive” on the tracks beneath a northbound A train at the Utica Avenue station in Bedford-Stuyvesant shortly after 6 p.m., according to the New York Police Department.

Emergency medical personnel pronounced Boahene dead at the scene. Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal incident.

Boahene, who lived in Brooklyn, was leaving the train around 6 p.m. when his shopping bag became lodged in the closing doors, The New York Times reported.

Although incidents in which subway riders are caught and dragged by trains are extremely uncommon, similar tragedies have occurred in New York City.

In October 2022, 20-year-old Joseph Ancona was killed at the Columbus Circle station after his bag became trapped in a train door and dragged him onto the tracks. He was then struck by the train, FOX 5 New York reported.

Several months earlier, 37-year-old Marcus Bryant became trapped between a Q train and the platform at a Brooklyn station. He fell onto the tracks and died.

In 2019, 39-year-old Vicente Alatorre died after being pulled into a tunnel by a train at Grand Central Station.

Authorities initially suspected that Alatorre’s clothing or a bag had been caught in the train doors, but later determined that neither was involved, The Times reported.