Why I Was Late

I woke up to the sounds of helicopters hovering overhead. That wasn't a good sign.

A man trapped underneath a Red Line train in Hollywood was rescued Tuesday and taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries, authorities said.

How the man, said to be in his 50s, ended up on the tracks is still being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The man was lucky to have landed in the large gap between the tracks, otherwise his injuries would have been more serious than the bruises and contusions he suffered, said Luis Inzunza, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

A moving train "would have cut him in half," Inzunza said.

The track the train was on was shut down during the rescue operation. All trains north of the station were stopped, but those traveling south were still operating.

—LA Times blog post (with video)