TX Firefighters Rescue Man Dangling from Train for 20 Miles

Aug. 17, 2021
San Antonio firefighters had trouble locating the man, whose foot became lodged in a door after he hitched a ride on a train with several others.

A man got stuck in the door of a freight train Tuesday morning and traveled nearly 20 miles in Texas, hanging by his foot, until authorities rescued him.

The man was “difficult to locate,” the San Antonio Fire Department told McClatchy News, and despite dangling from the train for miles, he suffered only minor injuries.

Local officials told KSAT the man, believed to be a Honduran migrant, was hitching a ride in a train car with several others.

They hopped out as the train passed through San Antonio, but one of the men didn’t quite make the jump, and his foot became lodged in the train’s door.

A friend called 9-1-1, WOAI reported. When authorities arrived, the train had already chugged away and the man was nowhere to be seen.

Soon, another call came in about the man dangling from a train, now all the way on the other side of town, KSAT reported. Firefighters responded and were able to reach the man, pry the door open and free him.

Officials told WOAI that the men likely climbed into the train in Mexico and crossed into the U.S. through Eagle Pass.

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