Subway surfer killed after hanging off side of crowded train

Authorities said witnesses reported seeing the man hanging off the side of the train before the incident

A subway surfer was killed on Tuesday morning after he was spotted hanging off the side of a crowded Brooklyn train (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A subway surfer was killed on Tuesday morning after he was spotted hanging off the side of a crowded Brooklyn train, police have said.

The man — described as in his 50s — was fatally struck by a Q train at the Prospect Park station at Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens at around 8:30am, the NYPD said.

Authorities said witnesses reported seeing the man hanging off the side of the train before the incident.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by responding EMS workers. No criminality was suspected.

One witness told the New York Post the man “was going nuts on the train” before he began surfing.

“He got on top of the train and then his jacket got tangled on a signal pole. He wound up underneath the Q,” they added.

Other witnesses told the Post the train dragged him “20 to 50 feet” after he was spun around “like a washing machine” by the signal pole.

The incident led to delays on the subway on Tuesday morning, with Southbound B and Q trains “severely disrupted” in Brooklyn until at least 9:30am, the MTA said in a post on X.

Inconvenienced commuters were seen piling onto shuttle buses on Flatbush Avenue.

The man’s death comes less than two weeks after 14-year-old subway surfer Alam Reyes was killed when he fell onto the tracks and was struck by an oncoming train after riding on the outside of a southbound F train at the Avenue N station in Brooklyn.

Richard Davey, the president of New York City Transit, said that the teen appeared to be participating in a stunt known as “subway surfing,” which involves jumping on top of train cars.

Last year, five teenagers died in similar circumstances — with four deaths resulting from subway surfing recorded in the four years before, according to The Washington Post. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released data that suggested incidents of passengers riding outside of subway cars had increased by 366 per cent since 2021.