Story perspectives

Plastic Bag Snag Causes Fatal A-Train Incident

By Drooid · Sep 29, 2026, 11:09 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Yaw Boahene, a 57-year-old Brooklyn resident, was dragged to death by an A-train.
A plastic bag snagged in the train’s doors at Utica Avenue station before 6 p.m. Monday.
He fell between cars onto the tracks and paramedics pronounced him dead.
NYPD and the MTA opened an investigation.
Officials found no door malfunction and stopped the train after three more stops.

History

Historical Context

On June 5 1995 a J-train ran a red signal and hit a stopped M-train on the Williamsburg Bridge, killing motorman Layton Gibson and injuring 54 passengers. The NTSB blamed outdated fixed-block signals and misaligned train-stop rods, leading the MTA to cut top speeds from 55 mph to 40 mph and add grade-time signals. Those changes left door-safety issues that reappeared in today’s Utica Avenue incident.

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Story summary

Yaw Boahene, a 57-year-old Brooklyn resident, was dragged to death by an A-train.
A plastic bag snagged in the train’s doors at Utica Avenue station before 6 p.m. Monday.
He fell between cars onto the tracks and paramedics pronounced him dead.
NYPD and the MTA opened an investigation.
Officials found no door malfunction and stopped the train after three more stops.

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