Montreal police are investigating what appears to be the accidental death of a 20-year-old woman who fell between metro cars and died this month.
It is believed that distracted texting played a role in her demise.
Surveillance footage showed Audrey-Anne Dumont as one of the last commuters to attempt to board the train at 8:15 a.m. as it left a Montreal station.
She was crushed to death under the wheels of the train.
The accident resulted in the rush-hour interruption of service of 30 metro stations; Quebec’s coroner’s office is also investigating the tragic circumstances.
Although authorities cannot definitively rule out suicide at this time, all signs point to the conclusion that Dumont’s death was a tragic accident.
One that may have been entirely preventable, though Dumont’s death has also raised safety questions about Montreal’s aging fleet of metro cars.
Isabelle Tremblay, a STM spokesperson, refused to comment on the incident.
Tremblay did confirm, however, that the city’s new metro trains, to be phased in next year, will not have spaces between wagons, making them safer for passengers.
Reports of injuries to distracted smartphone users have more than quadrupled in the U.S. in the last eight years, and will likely continue to rise.