New York City police are questioning a suspect in connection to the death of a man who was pushed onto the subway tracks moments before he was struck by an oncoming train.
Investigators recovered security video that showed a man fitting the description of the assailant working with street vendors near Rockefeller Centre, said NYPD spokesperson Paul Browne.
Police went to the popular area Tuesday and took him into custody.
Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Queens, N.Y., died in hospital after he was pushed in front of a train Monday at the city’s busy Times Square station.
Video surveillance footage shows that Han and the suspect had engaged in an altercation moments before Han was pushed. According to witnesses, Han tried to climb back onto the platform but was struck by the train before he could get off the tracks.
Meanwhile questions and criticism are mounting after The New York Post ran a full-page colour photo on its front page Tuesday under the headline: “Pushed on the subway track, this man is about to die.” The word “doomed” runs along the bottom of the paper in large block letters.
Criticism of the paper’s decision to run the photo was strong, with readers calling out the paper online on social media. Several readers also asked how was it possible that someone would have time to take photos of Han moments before his death, but not help him.
“Can’t believe #nypost featured a photo of a man clinging to his life while the family is still grieving over his death. So disappointed,” tweeted Aysha Seedat.
“Has anyone else read the story in the #NYPost about the man who was pushed in front of the subway train? People are downright nasty & the fact that someone actually made time to take a photo of the poor man instead of helping him is just cruel,” tweeted Rachel Baiocco.
“The cover of today’s #NYPost is the definition of trash,” tweeted a user using the handle @f7Isamra.
The Post said in its Tuesday edition that one of its freelance photographers happened to be on the subway platform when the incident occurred.
In a video posted to its website the paper added that Umar Abbasi -- who was not strong enough to lift Han up from the tracks himself -- fired off his camera flash several times to try and warn the train’s operator that something was wrong.
It is Abbasi’s chilling photo of Han, with both hands on the platform and head turned towards the oncoming train, that was published on the paper’s front page.
With files from The Associated Press
