‘Train surfer’ electrocuted
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – A youth was electrocuted at the Longdale station in Industria, Johannesburg, on Thursday morning (March 2), emergency services told the Independent.
Chief Superintendent Malcolm Midgley said he had climbed onto the roof of a train and was riding it like a surfboard when he was electrocuted.
“His body was found about an hour ago between the railway lines at the station,” said Midgley.
“There may have been more people with him, but we are not sure. Boys often jump onto the roof and show off among themselves. Unfortunately this time someone was electrocuted.”
(This item appeared March 2, 2006, in the Independent.)
This isn’t as rare as you might think, I read a report from Germany that said that about 35 people a year loose their lives this way a year on DB.
The demographic, as you might guess, is mainly males 18-25.
It’s sad when something like this happens, but at the same time hard to feel too sympathetic. This is another person who won’t be around to be stupid again.
Yup…about once every couple months some kid gets scraped off the top of a car by a low beam in a tunnel…often times just leaving a station. The NYC Subway Surfers don’t stand up, but simply try to hang-on to the top of the car without getting thrown off.