The human spirit doesn’t mind the gap

Commuters in Japan show the way when rescuing a woman trapped underneath a train.

Saira Khan

Topics Politics

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After a woman slipped into the gap between the train and the platform at Minami-Urawa station in northern Tokyo, tens of commuters gathered together to tilt the train and free her. The communal effort, the spontaneous determination to help someone in need – it was stirring stuff. What’s more, station officials had the sense, and showed the leadership, to encourage everyone to join in.

The woman was successfully freed, with no major injuries, to a round of applause. The train then continued on its course – after an only eight-minute delay.

Saira Khan is a student at the University of Oxford.

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