On Monday, New York subway victim Ki-Suck Han, 58, was pushed onto subway tracks as a southbound train pulled into the 49th Street station. The subway train struck Han and killed him.
The man accused of pushing Han is 30-year-old Naeem Davis, who has been charged with second degree murder and one count of second degree murder with depraved indifference, New York City police said.
According to Newsday, Davis was “apprehended about a block from the 39th Street subway station where Han was pushed to his death at about 12:30p.m. Monday in front of a train before horrified onlookers.”
One such onlooker was freelance photographer R. Umar Abbasi, who not only witnessed the incident, but also photographed NY subway victim Han being hit by the train, later selling those photos to the New York Post. A photo depicting Han on the tracks – train moments from striking him, his arms in the air as he fails to climb out of the tracks – was then published by the New York Post on its cover, which has since sparked discussions over whether the actions taken by Abbasi and the Post were appropriate.
Defending why he took photos instead of helped Han out of the tracks, Abbasi said he rapidly shot dozens of photos in hopes that his flash would alert the oncoming train of Han’s presence.
“People think I had time to set the camera and take photos, and that isn’t the case,” Abbasi wrote in the Post‘s story. “The sad part is, there were people who were close to the victim, who watched and didn’t do anything,” he continued.
Still, does this make it right from him to then sell the photos of the NY subway incident to the Post? On that, Abbasi has made no comment.
However, the NY subway victim’s daughter, Ashley Han, 20, has come forward to say, “What’s done is done.” She added, “The thought of someone helping him up in a matter of seconds would have been great.”
