I turned my head toward the express track just in time to miss seeing a guy jump in front of a C train at the 42nd Street/Port Authority station this afternoon.

At about 1:20pm, I was standing on the southern-most section of the platform with a handful of people, waiting for the A train, and the A arrived a few seconds before the C. As I turned toward the arriving A train, I heard a loud “thwack” behind me. I turned back around, and one of the people on the platform was suddenly missing, and a blood-curdling scream, mixed with the screech of brakes, emanated from beneath the C train as it halted halfway into the station. Other people on the platform, still shocked at what they’d seen, uttered, “There was a guy standing there a second ago!”

I can’t say for sure if it was suicide or an accident, but the platform was uncrowded, and the man hadn’t attracted any attention like a drunk person would, so I’m pretty sure it was an intentional jump. I’m glad I turned toward the express track when I did, because I wouldn’t want to deal with seeing that firsthand nor retelling it to the police.