A 53-year-old New York woman, who jumped onto subway tracks in attempt to retrieve her gym bag, was struck and killed by a train in front of a crowd of horrified straphangers.
Eyewitnesses said Rose Mankos made the fatal decision around 3:45 p.m. Thursday at the 77th Street Subway Station in NYC.
Mankos lost her life after her nylon LeSportsac bag filled with exercise clothes, toiletries and her cell phone fell on the Upper East Side subway tracks.
Witnesses said as the number 6 train approached her, “she tried to go under the platform….then she tried to climb onto the platform, but she couldn’t do that. Then she just froze,” said eyewitness Alfonso McGruder.
“She had one choice to make and seconds to make it. She didn’t make the one that would have saved her life….I think she just went into shock knowing that the train was seconds from hitting her,” McGruder continued.
Witnesses said the train operator sounded his horn eight times and attempted to brake.
Authorities said Mankos died immediately after being struck by the train.
A spokesperson for NYC Transit released a statement to straphangers saying “The message to our customers is clear: If you drop something on the tracks, do not attempt to retrieve it. Alert a transit employee or a police officer.”
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3 users commented in " Rose Mankos killed while attempting to retrieve gym bag on subway tracks "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackWas she 53 or 48? A real tragedy.
It’s sad Ms Mankos lost her life; however, I can’t help but wonder who in their ‘right mind’ would put themselves at risk of being maimed or killed for exercise tights, toiletries, and a cellphone?
Crazy…
It’s June 11, 2010. Why am I just posting now, 3 months later? I was out of town for 2 weeks, I had “other stuff” going on . . . you all know what I mean.
When I first heard the story it made me sick, of course, and I didn’t want to know the details. But the story haunted me, and finally, last week, I found out why: I knew Rose. Briefly, in the ’80s, but we got close enough as friends to land up on each other’s Rolodexes; then time passed and we drifted apart, as sometimes happens with different friends at different points in our lives.
Rose and I worked as secretaries at an investment banking firm while going for our undergraduate degrees in the evening. We both always lived in Manhattan and were both tri-state area New Yorkers. Rose DID have street smarts.
Although it’s been 23 years since I’d last seen her, the news of her horrific and tragic death has caused whatever memories I had of Rose to flood my mind. Her voice, the way she laughed — and she definitely had a sense of humor , that she always wore her running sneakers.
It doesn’t matter if we lost touch & hadn’t spoken to her in decades, I know she would NOT be suicidal. And I don’t like the sexist way the media has portraying her: “She lived alone and never married but loved cats.” Oh, please, how cliche is that?! She was a lot more even-tempered, focused and generally easy-going than I could ever be.
Rose was a good person, yes she was intelligent, yes she was educated. And yes she made a poor and fatal decision. People say “Why would she DO such a thing? Why would anyone with a modicum of intelligence do that?!” And I think that we all basically think we’re safer than we are. I imagine that she just figured she could handle it: jump down, grab the bag, climb back up.
So Rose, wherever you are, I truly hope you are at peace. It was great knowing you, however briefly, and I believe in my heart that you wanted to live.
And yes, this is probably my “In Memoriam” for Rose, my farewell, and may she rest in everlasting peace.
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