Deaf Man Killed by Train

From: WPVI, PA - Jul 7, 2004

ROSLYN, PA-July 7, 2004 — The Montgomery County coroner says a man who was killed by a commuter train was deaf and may have feared he had missed his station and tried to hop off.

Doctor Halbert Fillinger, whose office conducted an autopsy, says 43-year-old Robert Malley of Ardsley couldn't hear the conductor's announcements, since he had recently undergone surgery for hearing loss and was to receive hearing-aid implants.

Police and transit agency officials say the accident occurred about 9:15 Sunday night.

SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney says a railroad crossing signal wasn't functioning when the southbound train approached the Roslyn station.

Maloney says the train stopped across the intersection from the station so the conductor could stop traffic and walk the train through the crossing.

Witnesses told police that just as the train began to move again, Malley either stepped off or lost his balance and fell to the ground, becoming trapped beneath the train.

Malley was rushed to Abington Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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