Man Trapped at 24th Street BART Station Dies

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De La Fuente died at 7:50 p.m. on Wednesday, January 4, the office said, a little over an hour after he was trapped at the BART station near 6:30 p.m.

His family have set up a GoFundMe in his honor, soliciting donations for a funeral and the transportation of his body back to the Philippines.

“He leaves behind his mom Alice and beloved girlfriend Dorothy. His girlfriend is asking for donations to help Jeff’s mom with the funeral expenses and arranging for him to be brought back to the Philippines for burial,” the fundraising account states.

De La Fuente was trapped in an inches-long space between a BART car and the platform on Wednesday, according to Jonathan Baxter, a Fire Department spokesperson. Roughly a quarter of his body was above the platform, he said, when firefighters worked to rescue him by using airbags and wood to shift the train sideways.

He was semi-conscious during the rescue effort, Baxter said, and transported to San Francisco General Hospital some 15 minutes into the operation. He died there shortly after.

“When you visually see that gap, and figure a human body was in between that and the train, you can figure out all the trauma the human body endured,” Baxter said.

A BART spokesperson, Jim Allison, described the situation as a “tragic occurrence” but said he had no specific details as to how De La Fuente became trapped. He said it was a reminder for passengers to heed the yellow warning tiles on the edge of the platform.

“This was an accident, and obviously a tragic accident, so on behalf of BART I’d like to express our condolences to his family and friends,” he said.