Tourist killed after slipping onto SEPTA tracks, wife goes into shock

A SEPTA train fatally struck a Texas tourist who fell onto the tracks and was killed after having just visited the Liberty Bell.

Woodrow Jackson, 55, who was visiting Philadelphia with his wife, was hit by a Market-Frankford line train at the 13th Street Station around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, NBC10 reported. After the incident, Jackson’s wife went into shock and was hospitalized.

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“He leaned over from the platform looking down the tunnel to see if the train was coming, and that is when he fell onto the track and within seconds a westbound train struck him,” Chief Inspector Scott Small was quoted by Fox29. Minutes after being hit, Jackson was pronounced dead.

The subsequent SEPTA delays caused evening rush-hour commuters to spill into the streets of Center City, Fox29 added.

“In a blink of an eye, I heard a lady scream. I said, ‘Oh, somebody fell.’ She was hollering, saying, ‘It was my husband,'” Wayne Bullard, who was near the scene, said to6ABC.

Service has since been restored on the Market-Frankford line, but trains were still bypassing the stop at 13thStreet, according to NBC10. Trolleys were also bypassing 13th Street.

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SEPTA was reviewing surveillance footage of the incident to help understand exactly how it happened, 6ABC added.