Ten seconds is apparently all it takes to empty a subway car full of passengers.
That’s what happened on August 9 at 9:34pm when an unidentified foreigner entered a subway car on Line 2 of the Shanghai Metro at Jinke Station. After taking a seat, the man was seen shifting towards his right, his head nearly touching the shoulder of the middle-aged woman sitting next to him.
Soon after, the man suddenly fell on the floor and appeared to have lost consciousness, reports iFeng.
The first reaction from the five passengers sitting across from the foreigner was to run away. As seen in a surveillance video on board the subway (below), all passengers rushed out of the car within ten seconds of the man falling to the ground.
News of “an incident” spread to adjoining trains, and caused a panic among the passengers. At the next station, subway commuters started spilling out of the train. In the ensuing stampede, a middle-aged man fell down and a woman slammed into a partition.
Throughout the entire time, no passengers were seen providing any assistance to the passed-out foreigner.
Metro staff boarded the train at the next stop to provide assistance, but by then the foreigner had regained consciousness. He stood up on his own and exited the train.
The man’s condition, like his identity, is unknown.
Here is the surveillance video from the incident:
Photos: iFeng, Beijing Youth Daily