Japanese commuters teamed up to heave a
32-ton train carriage away from the platform
to free a woman who had fallen between the
train and the platform at rush hour.
In a nightmarish scenario, the woman, who is
in her 30s, slipped and fell into the eight-
inch gap between the carriage and the
platform edge at the busy JR Minami-Urawaj
station north of Tokyo.

But she escaped unscathed after around 40
commuters joined forces with officials to
push the train carriage - which has a
suspension system allowing it to lean to
either side - away from the platform,
allowing the woman to be pulled out.

The commuters' heroic effort was captured
on camera by a newspaper photographer who
was in the station at the time, and the
resulting photo was published in Japan's
largest daily newspaper, the Yomiuri.

Yesterday (22nd July) at 09:15am, in
Minami-ku, Saitama-Shi JR Minami Urawa
station, a 30-year-old lady slipped into the
gap between the train and the platform
when boarding the Keihin Tohoku line. She
was stuck at her waist.

About 40 passengers, both on the platform
and from the train carriage, came out to
help push the train away from the platform
so as to rescue the lady. The lady was later
brought to the hospital and was reported
to have no significant injuries.

When the incident happened, the train
staff made an announcement apologizing
that the train has been delayed because
someone got stuck in the platform gap.
Instead of grudging or complaining about
the delay during the rush hour, several
train passengers voluntarily got off the
train to help the train staff rescue the lady.
Within moments, everyone got off their
seat to join in the rescue.

Guess what?
The Keihin-Tohoku line went back into
service within 8 minutes.