NEW YORK — Dramatic video shows witnesses pulling a young girl to safety after her father allegedly jumped in front of a New York City subway train with the child in his arms Monday.
Police said the man jumped in front of an oncoming Manhattan-bound No. 4 train at the Kingsbridge Road station in the Bronx while holding his 5-year-old daughter.
Video taken from the opposing platform shows two men lifting the girl, dressed in a bright blue vest and still wearing her pink backpack, out from under the train.
A crowd of commuters standing on the platform, some covering their mouths, rush to help the little girl.
“The only thing she was saying was ‘Papa, my papa,’” 32-year-old Antonio Love, one of the men who jumped down to the tracks, told the New York Times.
The girl’s father, identified by the paper as 45-year-old Fernando Balbuena-Flores, was pronounced dead at the scene. The girl, who has not been identified, suffered minor injuries.
“I’m a mom and this devastated me like crazy,” one woman told WPIX. “I’m absolutely just so thankful that she’s alright.”
A photo shows the girl alert and seemingly crying while being held by a fire official at the scene.
Officials said they did not know why Balbuena-Flores may have jumped. The train’s operator, a 20-year veteran, was treated for trauma, the Times reports.
If you or anyone you know are in need of help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘Home’ to 741741.
