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Man dies at Berlin U-Bahn station after being pushed in front of oncoming train

The Local Germany
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Man dies at Berlin U-Bahn station after being pushed in front of oncoming train
A train arrives at the U-Bahn station Kottbusser Tor. Photo: DPA

German police are investigating after a fatal incident which saw a man pushed in front of an oncoming train at a U-Bahn station in Berlin's trendy Kreuzberg area.

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Police are looking into whether the man was deliberately pushed in front of the train at the Kottbusser Tor U-Bahn station in the popular Berlin district.

According to police, two groups had clashed with each other around midnight on Tuesday. Then, one man pushed another man in front of an arriving train. 

He was so badly injured that he died shortly after the incident.

The police questioned witnesses and viewed video recordings of the scene, reported the Berliner Morgenpost.

A homicide squad has taken over the investigation, stated Berlin's police department on Twitter.

The suspect fled the scene immediately following the incident.

Police are currently evaluating CCTV footage for additional information on the identity of the victim and the other people involved.

Following the incident, U-Bahn traffic was temporarily interrupted and there were significant delays on the U8 line. The driver of the train who hit the man was looked after by pastors.

In 2018, Kottbuser Tor was deemed to be Berlin's second most dangerous U-Bahn station, based on 119 injuries recorded there in 2017.

Other incidents

The shocking crime follows a spate of similar incidents which have sparked a national debate about security at railway stations in Germany.

In July this year, an eight-year-old boy was killed when he was pushed under a high-speed train at Frankfurt's main station by a man.

His mother was also pushed onto the tracks but was able to save herself.

In July, a woman was pushed in front of a train at the station in the small town of Voerde, near Duisburg, in North Rhine-Westphalia. The 34-year-old mother-of-one died at the scene.

Earlier this year, a 41-year-old woman pulled an unknown 17-year-old by her hair onto train tracks at the U-Bahn at Berlin’s central Alexanderplatz station. The teenager managed to save herself before a train arrived. 

In 2016, a 20-year-old woman also died after she was pushed in front of U-Bahn tracks in Berlin by a mentally ill man.

READ ALSO: How Germany plans to improve safety at railway stations

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