Philadelphia man involved in 'physical altercation' falls onto tracks, dies after getting struck by train

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: In Philadelphia, a man lost his life on the night of Thursday, January 4, after being shoved onto subway tracks and into the path of an approaching train during an altercation with another man.

Around 4:30 pm, authorities notified NBC 10 that the death occurred at the 34th Street SEPTA station in University City, just steps away from the University of Pennsylvania.

'I feel so f**king terrible'

A chilling video captures the intense altercation between the two men just a few feet from the platform's edge, with the train audibly approaching the station.

The victim, clad in a dark coat and black hat, is struck twice, causing him to tumble over onto the railway tracks.

Horrified onlookers scream as, seconds later, the Market-Frankford line train arrives at the station with the man still on the tracks.

Medical officials declared the man dead at the scene. A woman is heard shouting, "Oh my God, I feel so f**king terrible," in the video before police are seen urgently clearing the area. The footage was shared by Philly Crime Update.

Numerous netizens commented on the viral video. One user remarked, "Looks like self-defense and very, very bad luck. But I'll wait for more context." Another user expressed remorse, stating, "I feel terrible," and went on to criticize someone attempting to zoom in and capture an image of the body, lamenting the loss of humanity.

A user went on saying, "He wasn't thrown, he was attacking a smaller dude and got hit (deservedly from the look of it) and accidentally fell onto tracks."

Police, however, confirmed they were reviewing the video as part of their investigation. The victim has yet to be identified.

Police investigate the case

Philadelphia police Inspector Kpana Massaquoi told the NY Post, “We don’t know exactly what took place prior to that to initiate this, but it’s being investigated at this point." He also said that a person of interest was later taken into custody at 40th Street Station. 

Massaquoi told ABC News Philadelphia that the department does not have any witnesses despite the video showing multiple people around when the man was struck.

Police are urging any witnesses to come forward. ABC News Philadelphia reports that a homicide investigation is underway for the killing.

SEPTA halted service on the Market-Frankford Line between the 30th and 40th Street stations for approximately two hours.

Notably, a SEPTA train had previously struck and killed a 66-year-old man in September while he was walking on the tracks.