The apparent suicide that disrupted the operations of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 on Wednesday was the fifth case of people jumping onto train tracks in Metro Manila in the last three years, lending urgency to calls to install protective barriers on the heavily used transport systems.
A man leaped to his death in front of an oncoming southbound train at Guadalupe station in Makati City around 8:30 a.m. in full view of passengers jamming the platforms.
The Makati police at press time have yet to establish the identity the victim, who was described to be 20 to 30 years old and wearing a pair of denim shorts and blue shirt.
He only had a key for a Hyundai car in his pocket, said city police chief Senior Supt. Manuel Lukban. A search for a car of that brand on the streets near the station later proved negative.
The victim was dragged by the train for about 30 meters before it came to a stop. It took three hours for emergency response teams to pull the crushed body from under the train.
Passengers were forced to come out and walk on the tracks, and the MRT service limited its southbound run from North Avenue to Shaw Boulevard before resuming normal operations around 11:30 a.m.
Reached for comment, the MRT management said it had already begun addressing safety and security concerns a few months ago by installing barriers to prevent passengers from accidentally falling onto the rails.
Such barriers are already in place at North Avenue station and should be installed in the rest of the 13 stations within the year, according to MRT3 spokesperson Tony Andulan.
The new barriers are meant to address passenger safety, Andulan said without making any reference to past suicides or suicide attempts on the MRT tracks.
In January this year, MRT operations were disrupted for an hour after Rica Fernandez, 28, tried to take her own life by jumping on the tracks as a train approached the Shaw Boulevard station at 11:15 a.m.
Fernandez lived but her left leg, which was pinned under the train, had to be amputated.
In August 2012, Lucy Aroma, 52, killed herself by jumping onto the tracks of the Light Rail Transit Line 1, the oldest of the three overhead light train systems in the capital.
Aroma was killed on the spot at the LRT’s Edsa station after her head was crushed beneath the train wheels. The incident disrupted LRT operations from 5:50 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
In June 2011, LRT operations were delayed when Redito Alfredo, 29, tried to kill himself by jumping into the path of a Recto-bound LRT-2 train at the Cubao station in Quezon City. Alfredo lost his forearm in the incident.
In January 2011, Jesus Sta. Ana Jr., 43, tried to kill himself by jumping on the MRT tracks at the southbound lane of the Ortigas station. Sta. Ana emerged unscathed by the incident, which delayed MRT operations for 15 minutes. With a report from Inquirer Research