Commuters help save man on tracks from oncoming train

SAN FRANCISCO -- Passengers at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in San Francisco took quick action to save the life of a person in crisis who climbed from the platform onto the tracks as a train approached a station, CBS San Franciso reports.

It happened around 4:43 p.m. Monday at the Civic Center station.

A BART press release credited the combination of an alert train operator and the quick-thinking passengers for saving the man after he laid down on the tracks just before the train approached.

Security camera video shows some people immediately trying to get the man off the track while others began furiously waving to try to alert the operator of the oncoming train.

Passengers are seen on the video all along the platform with their arms raised, while others turned away from what seemed to be a tragic ending.

BART said the train operator saw the riders waving their arms and hit the emergency stop button, halting the train with just one car inside the station and several car lengths from where the man was, still on the tracks.

Power was cut and BART police responded and detained the man and got him to support services, the agency said.

No one was hurt in the incident.