Photo: DPA

Teen dies after fall from Berlin U-Bahn train

Published: 7 Jul 09 15:20 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090707-20445.html

A 13-year-old boy was killed Monday evening in an accident on Berlin’s U-Bahn, police confirmed Tuesday. According to witness accounts, the boy had opened and leaned out the door of the train car.

The accident occurred on the U7 line In the U-Bahn tunnel on Wutzkyallee, according to Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel . The victim’s head and shoulder crashed into an iron bar, causing him to fall out of the train into the tracks. The victim later died of severe injuries.

According to a police spokesperson, the boy was accompanied by three peers on the subway. In interviews, the three said they were all sitting in the U-Bahn train when the 13-year-old suddenly opened the doors and leaned out, though they were unable to say why. Police will interview the boy’s companions again after they recover from shock, Der Tagesspiegel reported.

A spokesperson for the Berlin transit system BVG said opening the door to a subway car requires an “enormous amount of pressure” on the handles. The doors are never 100-percent locked due to security reasons, allowing passengers to exit the train in case of an emergency.

The boy collided with one of the approximately 2-metre-tall bars situated between lengths of track in the subway, which U-Bahn workers use as breakpoints in the tunnels.

DDP/The Local (news@thelocal.de)

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Your comments about this article:

#1
09:53 July 8, 2009 by Krieg
I do not get it, you need lots of effort to open the door when it is closed, plus you can't do this in a couple of seconds, why no one stopped the boy?
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#2
10:12 July 8, 2009 by LeonG
I do not get it, you need lots of effort to open the door when it is closed, plus you can't do this in a couple of seconds, why no one stopped the…
Many options. Nobody was sitting close enough to notice what they were doing. Nobody cared. Nobody wanted to get involved with a group of sassy kids who probably would have told them to off anyway.
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#3
10:17 July 8, 2009 by Krieg
The kid was together with 3 adults.

If stupid kids try to open a door when the train is moving I will ring the emergency alarm for sure.

Edit: It says 3 "peers", so probably no adults and maybe the were involved in the whole thing. So yes, you are probably right.
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#4
12:04 July 8, 2009 by dessa_dangerous
now this is the sort of story they need to publicize the out of.

I don't remember acting such an ass on public transit when I was that age, but maybe that's because I grew up in a bus-town-- around too much and the bus driver will surely come take care of it.

I also come from a place where people will indeed speak up to stop a kid or even a group of kids from acting a mother ass and mishandling public property.

The way some of these kids act on the train is appalling. When you're already a little bit behind schedule and they keep the door open at the station for shits and giggles and they don't give a who they are inconveniencing--disgraceful. Don't they have parents?

As with those super disgusting full-color photos on the packs of Canadian cigarettes, they should post very graphic images of people being decapitated, having their torsos ripped off, etc. while acting an ass on the train. But will that make the kids think twice, or will it just increase the appeal of dodging death?

huh.
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#5
12:11 July 8, 2009 by fraufruit
Don't they have parents?
I doubt they do this when their parents are present.

They do, however, have raging testosterone and perhaps alcohol/drugs in their systems as well. Not a good mix.
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#6
12:54 July 8, 2009 by UrbanAngel
I like the usage of 'peers' and 'companions'. How quaint.
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#7
13:01 July 8, 2009 by fraufruit
Genius idea, Hal - promote teen suicide. That will solve everything.
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#8
13:08 July 8, 2009 by don_riina
they have really nothing to lose nor do the parents apart from some child assistance from the state. They have no job potential, no respect for anythi…
Lots of conclusions you are jumping to there. All kids misbehave and about, not just rap-music fan, drug taking kids with parents who only gave birth to them for increased social security payments. I'd actually quite like to know exactly what drugs you think would make somebody think it was a "laugh" to open a train door whilst moving and stick his head out. I can only think of one, alcohol. Not sure that rap-music has that particular effect on people either come to think of it. I've certainly never heard Dr Dre or Tupac mention sticking their head out of a train door.
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#9
13:10 July 8, 2009 by perdido
Yep hard to do a drive by from the U5.
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#10
16:50 July 10, 2009 by William Thirteen
ooooopsie!
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#11
08:56 July 11, 2009 by Furor Teutonicus
I haven't heard of much train surfing in a long time... whatever happened to that?
The gene pool kicked in.
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#12
09:33 July 11, 2009 by mikebenda
Just two words: Darwin Awards
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#13
09:50 July 11, 2009 by Furor Teutonicus
Think thats what I meant really.
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