Madrid: Police officer dies after being ‘pushed’ under train

From 9 News Australia

A police officer has died in Spain after he was allegedly pushed under the path of an oncoming train. Police say officer Francisco Javier Ortega, 28, was asking a group of passengers on a Madrid platform on Saturday for identification papers when a scuffle broke out.

The altercation was between Mr Ortega and a man identified by Spanish newspaper El Pais as 28-year-old Yode Ali Raba, who is alleged to be an illegal immigrant from the Ivory Coast.

 

Horrifying mobile phone footage, which has been posted online, shows Mr Ortega being dragged onto the tracks just as a train is passing through the station.

The Director General of Police in Spain, Ignacio Cosidó has described Mr Ortega’s death as ‘murder’. “It is clear that there is intent on taking the agent to the railway tracks and throwing him under when a train was approaching,” he said.

Mr Ortega has been awarded a posthumous gold medal of police merit and his fellow officers formed a guard of honour as his coffin was brought into the auditorium for the ceremony.

Ali Raba is being treated for a head injury in a Spanish hospital.