A 20-year-old New Jersey man was killed after he was dragged by a New York City subway train during rush hour on Monday, Oct. 24, local media reported.

Joseph Ancona, a “happy-go-lucky” stagehand at the Metropolitan Opera, commuted to work into the city every morning along with millions of other people, according to the New York Daily News.

He was running to catch the subway around 5 p.m. on Monday when his clothing or backpack got caught in a train’s closing doors, according to NJ.com.

“The victim was then dragged and struck by the train,” New York City Police stated, according to the outlet. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

“While the investigation is in its earliest stages, it appears this was a terrible accident that did not involve criminal activity,” NYC Transit President Richard Davey said in a statement obtained by CBS News. “A person on the tracks was hit by a train and our thoughts are with his family…”

A statement released on Tuesday by the Metropolitan Opera stated, “Joe was respected and well-liked by his fellow crew members and the Metropolitan Opera offers our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” according to CBS News.

Neither the New York City Police Department nor the Metropolitan Opera immediately responded to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

“Everybody wants to blame somebody because it makes you feel better,” Ancona’s uncle told the New York Daily News on Wednesday. “It’s not going to bring him back, it’s not going to make it any different. But it just seems like it was very preventable.”

“Joe was loved by so many, and we want him to continue being remembered as the amazing man he was,” stated a message from his family on a GoFundMe page established to help raise funds for Ancona’s funeral service.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) logged 169 collisions between people and trains in 2020, 63 of which were fatal, according to The City, a nonprofit media outlet. Almost 50 were killed on the tracks during the first eight months of 2021, according to the New York Post.

Several people have been pushed onto subway tracks this year, resulting in at least one injury and at least one death, according to Reuters.

Other countries around the world, including South Korea and Thailand, use platform doors to prevent passenger accidents, according to The City. The MTA has scrapped similar plans in the past.

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