Commuter Nearly Hit by Falling Subway Station Ceiling in Massachusetts

A passenger narrowly missed getting struck by a large ceiling panel when it came crashing down at a Massachusetts subway station on March 1.

This surveillance video shows the passenger stopping just before the panel falls at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) Harvard Station in Cambridge, shortly before 4 pm. The passenger pauses, then walks around it and toward a staircase.

In a press conference on March 3, MBTA Interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville said the panel, weighing about 20-25 pounds, fell about 10 feet due to corrosion.

Gonneville added that the agency removed about 10 other panels at the station, which has 400 to 500 of them in total.

“The MBTA will continue to investigate this incident and will make our findings available to the public when more information in available”, Gonneville said.

The rider, identified as Cianna Navarro, told local media that she was in a “state of shock” following the incident.

“I didn’t really understand the severity of it until the MBTA came out and said it was up to 25 pounds,” Navarro said. “Once I had gathered that information, it kind of felt like a second wave of shock, of understanding how bad it potentially could’ve been.” Credit: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority via Storyful