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MTA Worker Fatally Struck By Subway Train In Queens

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker is dead after being struck by a subway train Wednesday morning in Queens.

It happened at 3:21 a.m. at the Broadway and 46th Street station.

Signal maintenance worker Louis Moore, 58, was walking on a catwalk near the entrance to the station when it appears his tool belt got caught, causing him to slip and fall onto tracks below and directly into path of an oncoming E train, police said.

"He fell into the railroad tracks in front of an oncoming train," John Samuelson with TWU Local 100 told CBS 2's Dick Brennan.

Passengers on the train said they knew instantly something was wrong.

"Felt like a bump, like we hit a bump," said passenger Al Morris.

"A lot of the fire department were trying to look under the train," said another passenger. "The victim was hidden under the train -- he wasn't exposed."

Moore was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

MTA Worker Fatally Struck By Subway Train In Queens

Officials said at this point, it appears to be an unfortunate accident.

At an an MTA board of directors meeting on Wednesday, they held a moment of silence for Moore.

"An intensive investigation into the circumstances of his death is under way and this incident will be the subject of a formal board of inquiry by the New York City Transit Office of System Safety," MTA acting chairman Fernando Ferrer said.

The subway station was closed for a few hours as police investigated, but it was reopened around 6 a.m.

It's the first death of an MTA worker on the job since 2010, when James Knell fell on a third rail.

In 2007, MTA worker Marvin Franklin was struck and killed by a train.

Moore has been with the Transit Authority for eight years.

Moore's death came exactly six years to the day after another track worker, Daniel Boggs, was killed at the 59th Street Columbus Avenue station.

The MTA announced they will hold a memorial service for Boggs and Moore on Thursday.

Moore is survived by three children.

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