82-Year-Old Man Dies After Train Drags Him Across Metro Platform In Rio De Janeiro

An 82-year-old man died after a train door closed on his hand and he was dragged along the platform at a station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The elderly man, identified as 82-year-old Jose Alves Simao, a former soldier, was trying to board the train at Uruguaiana Station on the Rio de Janeiro metro in Brazil on Oct. 22 when the accident happened. While he was trying to board the train, the train door closed on his hand and he became trapped as the train began to move down the track, the Mirror reported.

As the train moved down the track, Simao got dragged along and fell into the gap between the train and the platform. Even though horrified passengers pressed the emergency buttons to activate the train's brakes, it was to no avail.

Simao died from trauma to the chest and abdomen, as well as internal bleeding, Daily Express reported.

Simao reportedly went to Rio de Janeiro to take his mobile phone to a repair shop before meeting one of his sons to watch a football match. After not hearing from his father, his worried son spent hours trying to call him before he went to the police station and learned about his father's tragic death.

Simao leaves behind a wife and five children. Following Simao's death, Simao's daughter Simone Brito Simao said that she doesn’t want her father’s death to be treated as a “number” and urged the Brazilian authorities to take action to help avoid similar accidents happening in the future.

"My father considered the metro to be one of the safest means of transport there was. Last Saturday, my father got stuck in the metro door. The metro didn't open the door, and he was dragged along Uruguaiana Station where he died," she said to her followers on her Instagram account.

"I want to make an appeal so that together we can push the authorities and competent bodies to take action so that my father's death is not a number, and so that this does not happen again for any other family."

"Security on transport is not a favor. Safety for metro users is not a favor. It is an obligation!"

Following the tragic incident, MetroRio said that their team had contacted the family and offered to provide any necessary assistance.

Meanwhile, an Accident Assessment Committee has been set up to investigate the incident.