A man’s body was discovered early Sunday in the Metro Red Line subway tunnel in Hollywood, after apparently being struck by a train, officials said.

The body was discovered in the tunnel connecting to the Red Line’s Sunset Boulevard/Vermont Avenue station; the man was apparently hit by a train bound for Union Station, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

The man has not been immediately identified and it was unclear why he was in the tunnel, officials said.

Firefighters and paramedics were dispatched to the scene about 5:50 a.m., Humphrey said. There were no injuries to the train operator or to the 40 passengers, he said.


Trains headed in both directions had to share a single tunnel while the one where the incident occurred was cleared, resulting in delays, said Metro spokesman Luis Inzunza. Bus shuttles replaced the trains between the Hollywood/Vine and Vermont/Santa Monica stations, according to Metro’s Twitter account.

Normal service was expected to resume around noon, Inzunza said.

The death was unusual in that such incidents typically occur within stations, rather than in the tunnels between stations, Humphrey said.

“Generally, when this happens, it happens in the station, where somebody either falls or trips or is pushed or jumps,” Humphrey said. “It’s rare to have someone in the tunnel.”


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