A woman leapt in front of a subway train in Beijing on July 5, apparently attempting suicide—but to the surprise of onlookers, after a train ran over her, she crawled back to the station platform.
At about 4 p.m. in the afternoon, the woman, sporting bangs and a ponytail, jumped onto the tracks in Guomao Station. An eyewitness surnamed Li told the state-run Beijing Times that the woman had been about only eight feet away from the approaching Line 1 train. After three train carts had passed her and the train came to a halt, she appeared from the tracks to surprised bystanders, who exclaimed at the sight of her.
Two subway workers ran over, yelling at her to stay still. “Be careful to avoid electrocution!” one said, according to a video recorded on the cellphone of a witness. The woman ignored their advice and climbed up to the platform. She was visibly agitated and shouted, “Impossible. It’s impossible!”
Passengers in the crowd murmured to each other the Chinese phrase that “This one doesn’t die easy.”
Police took the woman away, despite her attempts to resist. Subway workers told the Beijing Times that the incident caused a minor delay in train service.
