‘Not hearing anything’ from MBTA
Family of man who died getting off Red Line train looking for more answers
The heartbroken family of the man who died when his arm became trapped in a Red Line train door is “reliving this horror every day” through continued public scrutiny around the incident.
“We’re still grieving,” said Kelvin Lalin, whose 39-year-old uncle Robinson Lalin died in the horrific April 10 incident. “It’s been only a month and it’s like it happened yesterday. It’s reliving this horror again.”
Kelvin Lalin said he is finding out more information about his uncle’s death through the media than from the MBTA and Transit Police, which have been unresponsive since their initial conversation with him days after the incident.
“Police have my contact information,” said Kelvin Lalin. “I tried to reach back out — did not get a call-back. I left voice messages — nothing yet. Unfortunately the ones who need to hear from these organizations are not hearing anything.”
The T said federal investigators have asked it not to communicate about the accident.
“The MBTA fully appreciates the family’s desire for additional information, but the MBTA has been asked by the National Transportation Safety Board to not discuss elements of the ongoing investigation,” said MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo. “Transit Police continue to work with the Suffolk County DA’s office to accurately answer the questions being asked by the family and others.”
A media outlet published information this week on a draft of a Transit Police report it obtained, which provided more details on the incident. The Herald requested the police report from both Transit Police and the MBTA, but the request was declined due to the “active” investigation.
In its May 2 preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board found that Robinson Lalin’s arm became trapped during his attempt to leave the sixcar train through the side passenger door of the rail car he was riding in, as the train doors were closing. He was dragged about 105 feet to his death at the Broadway station.
The NTSB investigation identified a “fault in a local door-control system that enabled the train to move with the door obstructed,” the report said. The Federal Transit Administration has since assumed an increased oversight safety role at the MBTA.
Pesaturo said the door systems throughout the Red Line were tested immediately after the incident. The agency found “all components performed as designed and did not identify any additional instances of the circuitry problem” experienced on April 10.
MBTA personnel “are supplementing existing door inspection protocols with additional testing to prevent this issue from occurring again,” said Pesaturo.