Increased crowds on the Beijing subway are being blamed for the death of a woman when she became trapped between the platform safety doors and train doors when the train pulled out of the station.

It happened yesterday at 7:05pm at Huixinxijie Nankou Station on the Beijing Metro Line 5, which is a busy interchange station with Line 10.

Eyewitness Miss Zhou described what she saw:

A woman was trapped between the safety doors and the doors to the train. She was stuck there as the subway began to move. After the train left the station, the woman fell to the platform.

The 33-year old Hebei woman was taken to hospital where the doctor on duty said the woman had a pulse and was breathing. The doctor said the woman had no visible injuries at first glance, but suffered from bruising and broken bones:

“Her chest had become all soft, so it is evident that she was trapped by the doors in that spot.”

She died of her injuries in hospital.

A similar incident happened a few years ago in Shanghai, when a young woman was also trapped between the doors as the train started moving. Eyewitnesses on the platform described the scene as harrowing.

There are more people riding the subway in Beijing this week because of car restrictions related to the APEC summit.

Photos: People’s Daily Online, China Daily, Yangcheng Evening Report