FDNY Frees Toddler After Arm Gets Stuck

A 2-year-old child was injured after a hand became trapped in a subway train door at the Flushing Avenue and Broadway station in Brooklyn early on May 20, according to police and local media reports. FDNY firefighters and other responders freed the child at the scene after the hand was caught in the closing doors of a J train. Police told local outlets the child was taken to a hospital and was expected to recover. Video of the rescue circulated on local television and Patch later that day. ### Where and when did the child’s hand get stuck? Police said the incident happened at about 1 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20, at the Flushing Avenue and Broadway station in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant area. News 12 reported that the child’s hand became stuck in a train door on the J line, while CBS New York identified the location as Flushing Avenue station. The station complex sits on the elevated J, M and Z lines near the border of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Williamsburg. Local reports described the child as 2 years old and said the injury happened as the train doors were closing. ### Who responded to the scene? FDNY firefighters responded to the station and worked to remove the child’s hand from the door, according to Patch and television footage cited by CBS New York. News 12 reported that first responders were able to free the child before the toddler was transported for medical care. Passengers and at least one transit worker also appeared in video from the scene that circulated online and was later used in local news coverage. One report from Asianet Newsable, citing police, said passengers, an MTA worker and FDNY firefighters all helped during the rescue. ### What do the videos show? CBS New York aired video showing a cluster of responders and bystanders gathered around the subway car as the child’s arm remained pinned. Patch reported that video of the rescue spread locally after the incident. The footage became a focal point of the coverage because it showed the length of the response and the number of people involved around the train door. Local reports did not identify the child or family members by name. ### How badly was the child hurt? Police told News 12 that the child was transported to an area hospital and was expected to be OK. None of the local reports reviewed publicly described life-threatening injuries. Patch reported that FDNY crews treated the toddler at the scene before the handoff to medical personnel. Television coverage likewise said the child received help immediately after being freed. ### What is still unclear about the incident? The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had not, in the reports reviewed, publicly detailed how the child’s hand became trapped or whether the train was taken out of service afterward. Local coverage focused on the rescue itself rather than on any equipment finding or service disruption. The reports also differed slightly in describing whether it was the child’s hand or arm that was caught, though they agreed the child was 2 years old, the location was Flushing Avenue and Broadway, and responders freed the child before hospital transport. ### What happens next? Police said on May 20 that the child was expected to recover after hospital treatment. Any further account of the incident is likely to come from the NYPD, FDNY or the Metropolitan Transportation Authority if the agencies release additional details about the train, the door mechanism or the response.