Subject: [NEXTEL-1] N.Y. Commuter Drops Cell Phone in Toilet, Gets Arm Stuck

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 13:34:35 -0500

N.Y. Commuter Drops Cell Phone in Toilet, Gets Arm Stuck

A New York commuter train's service was halted yesterday as a result of
cell
phone clumsiness. A Bronx man traveling northbound from New York City
dropped his phone in the toilet while on board the train. While trying
to fish the
device out, his arm got stuck, leading to cries for help. When
discovered,
rescue crews were called in to help free the man from the toilet. His
cell phone
wasn't so lucky, and neither were the many commuters that experienced
delays in the shadow of the man vs. cell phone vs. toilet incident
===================================================================================================

Arm In Toilet Disrupts Metro-North Service
That Explains Wednesday Evening's Problems

Oct 31, 2003 7:23 am US/Eastern
NEW YORK (CBS) A man riding a Metro-North train dropped his cell phone
in a toilet and got his arm stuck trying to retrieve it Wednesday
evening, forcing the train to stop and delaying the evening commute for
thousands of people.

Edwin Gallart, 41, of the Bronx, was stuck with his arm in the toilet
for 90 minutes, The Advocate of Stamford reported in Friday's editions.
The incident happened on the 6:19 p.m. train from Grand Central
Terminal. Crew members were alerted to the problem at about 59th Street,
a few blocks north of Grand Central.

"A customer aboard the train contacted the conductor to say there was a
customer in the toilet in distress," Metro-North spokesman Dan Brucker
said. "Soon our entire Hudson Line was in distress."

The conductor called for a supervisor, or trainmaster, who boarded the
train at 125th Street to help, Brucker said.
As the train continued north on the Harlem Line, the trainmaster tried
to remove Gallart's arm from the stainless steel commode, Brucker said.
Twenty minutes later, at 6:38 p.m., police and firefighters boarded the
train at Fordham station and began helping Gallart, Brucker said.
Meanwhile, passengers were evacuated and thousands of commuters were
delayed because the train sat blocking the platform as the rescue work
continued, Brucker said.

Other trains were prevented from reaching the platform at Fordham, and
they couldn't stop at four stations to the north as well because they
were prevented from switching to the correct track, Brucker said.

Firefighters tried a variety of methods to extricate Gallart's arm. They
ended up taking apart the entire toilet, Brucker said.
Gallart's arm was removed and he was treated and released from a
Fordham-area hospital, Brucker said. His cell phone wasn't retrieved.
The railroad's maintenance department estimated the toilet would take
two days and "several thousand dollars" to fix, Brucker said.
Gallart could not be reached Thursday night. His home phone number was
not listed.

http://cbsnewyork.com/topstories/topstoriesny_story_304065947.html

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