A woman was struck by a Red Line train Wednesday afternoon, the latest suicide attempt on the transit system. The incident happened at 2:24 p.m. at the Rhode Island Avenue station when a train headed outbound toward Glenmont hit the woman, said Metro spokeswoman Angela Gates.
The woman had placed herself intentionally in the path of the train, according to the preliminary police reports, Gates said.
The woman, in her 20s, was conscious and breathing when rescue workers pulled her from the track bed, said D.C. Fire & EMS spokesman Pete Piringer. The train was likely moving slowly when it struck her, he said. She was found wedged between the fence of the outdoor elevated station and the stopped train, then rushed to a local trauma center.
The station was evacuated during the rescue and briefly closed. Trains were able to pass through the area, but riders faced delays along the line while trains shared a single track.
The agency has been battling a spate of suicides on the system in the past two years. In 2009, at least nine people killed themselves on the transit system. Agency records show five people killed themselves last year and one has this year. Those figures do not include attempted suicides in which the person survived.
A man had tried to kill himself on the Red Line on March 3, putting himself into the path of a train at the Rockville station. He remained hospitalized as of Wednesday afternoon, Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.
