Man killed at Pandacan train station

MANILA, Philippines - A man waiting for the Philippine National Railways (PNR) train at its station in Pandacan, Manila was killed in an accident yesterday morning.

There are conflicting accounts of how Confucius Ephraim Peralta fell to the railroad tracks and was hit by the approaching train at past 6 a.m., according to Police Officer 3 Richard Borbon.

Peralta, who was reportedly on his way to work in Makati City, was dragged some 30 meters from the station.

Borbon said Peralta was in front of a queue at the station’s southbound lane. Some said the victim slipped on the wet platform while others claimed he was pushed by other passengers, he said.

PNR spokesperson Paul de Quiros, however, contested the police report and said there were witnesses who saw Peralta jump when it was too late for the train’s driver to stop.

“The brake of trains is not like that of cars. It takes a few meters before the train stops, so he (victim) could really die there,” he said in an interview.

The PNR official stressed that putting up additional passenger safety measures would not prevent anyone from committing suicide along the railroad tracks.

Just last month, two people were killed by PNR trains: a woman was hit by a train in Manila on July 9 while a drunk man was lying on the railroad tracks in Makati when a train ran over him on July 17.