The Globe's Mac Daniel reports that a man was separated from his briefcase during yesterday's morning rush hour. Orange Line doors suddenly snapped shut on Juan Sierra’s shoulder as he tried make his way out of the car, using his briefcase as a shield.
“The closing of the doors also sandwiched my head to the point that my glasses popped off to the outside of the train car onto the platform," Sierra wrote in an email to Channel 5
Though clamped upon a human limb and skull, the doors did not re-open, and the train continued on its route. At that moment, Sierra was faced with a devastating choice: to lose his case or his face. In an act of bravery, Sierra let go of his briefcase and squeezed his arm and head back to safety.
After surviving his squished hand ordeal, Sierra was horrified to realize that he and other State Street bound passengers were being unwillingly transported to the next stop, Downtown Crossing, which is located a full block away from their intended destination. To make matters worse, when the train line pulled into the platform at Downtown, bells dinged, but the doors still did not open.
Trapped, late and realizing that their next stop was (shudder) Chinatown, the car, full of professionals, transformed into a panicked mob, repeatedly hitting the intercom button to no avail. Finally, passengers managed to catch a conductors' attention by banging on windows, shouting and pressing their sad little faces against the glass.
A T official entered the car and opened the doors manually.
Our story ends with a heartwarming vignette. According to Sierra, a man who actually made it to the State Street platform and grabbed the briefcase just the doors closed. In what we can only imagine as a dramatic man-to-man interchange, the Good Samaritan swore that he would rendez-vous with Sierra, briefcase in hand, at Back Bay station.
“You will be glad to know that he came up to me (at Back Bay), with my briefcase, just as he said he would," Sierra reported.
MBTA management is investigating. All intercoms on the train were found to be operational, though “multiple door failures” have been noted. The car has since been taken out of service.
This event comes three months after a Melrose mother was separated from her 7-year-old daughter when a Green Line trolley's doors abruptly closed on her and the trolley left with her child on board. Mother and daughter were later reunited safely.
Post contributed by Kristin MacDougall
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