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- NATION, Page 21American NotesACCIDENTSHell on the Underground
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- The frightened New York City subway passengers on the
- Brooklyn-bound local said later they knew there was something
- wrong when their train overshot several station platforms. As
- it hurtled toward the busy Union Square Station at 12:15 a.m.,
- the train derailed on a curve and slammed into a steel pillar,
- leaving several cars a mass of twisted metal in a hot,
- smoke-filled tunnel. "When the lights went off, smoke started
- coming into the car," said passenger Gilbert Asante. "I thought
- I was dead."
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- Asante was one of the lucky ones. Five riders were killed
- and nearly 200 injured. Motorman Robert Ray, 38, who fled the
- scene, was later captured and charged with five counts of
- manslaughter. Blood tests showed two times the legal limit of
- alcohol in his system.
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