Xi’an police probe Metro incident

POLICE in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, are investigating an incident where a female passenger was dragged out of a Metro train compartment by a subway security guard, Thepaper.cn reported yesterday.

The video in which the struggling woman can be seen dragged out forcibly by a security staffer, causing a large portion of her body to be exposed and her personal belongings to scatter on the ground, has sparked controversy.

The operator of Xi’an Metro took to Weibo on Tuesday to explain what it claimed happened on Monday afternoon when a female passenger quarreled with a male passenger in a train carriage on Metro Line 3.

The woman repeatedly insulted other passengers, leading to physical tussles, it said.

When the train arrived at Dayan Pagoda Station, Metro staff and other passengers tried to force the woman to leave the train but she refused.

To ensure the safety of subway traffic, the Metro station staff called police but before they could come the woman relented and was then accompanied by security personnel. She left on her own after arriving at her destination.

This explanation, however, raised an outcry online, with some netizens questioning whether Metro security staff have the right to act in such a rude manner, with one commenting: “Where are the boundaries of security duties? Did the security staff insult the passenger by dragging her?”

Other netizens thought the conflict arose because the woman swore at others first.