A man with a visual impairment was injured slightly Monday after falling on a station platform southwest of Tokyo with his right hand caught in the closed doors of a commuter train, which dragged him for about 2 meters along the platform, the train operator said.
The man, in his 60s, hit his head and lower back when he fell on the platform. A conductor noticed the incident and applied the emergency brake to stop the train.
According to Keikyu Corp., the man was trying to board a commuter train at Keikyu Kurihama Station in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, at around 1 p.m. when his hand holding a white cane for visually impaired people was trapped in the train doors.
As the white cane was already through the doors when the 24-year-old conductor looked down the platform, he did not realize a visually impaired passenger was attempting to board. He closed the doors believing the man was seeing somebody off and standing back from the platform edge.
The train operator issued a statement apologizing for the accident, pledging to take steps to ensure the safety of passengers and prevent a similar accident in the future.