Yesterday afternoon, a woman was fatally hit by a No. 6 train after she passed out and fell onto the tracks at the 77th Street stop on the Upper East Side. Police say that 21-year-old Bronx resident Fatoumata Diallo fainted, possibly due to the heat, just as a northbound No. 6 train pulled into the station, and was "cut in half", according to a witness. "Everyone was waiting for the train, and they started screaming," Sandra Pereira told the Post.

Diallo, a Borough of Manhattan Community College student, had just celebrated her birthday the week before. After she fainted and fell onto the rail bed, she reportedly tried to get out of the way of the train by scrambling to the area between the north and southbound tracks; but she couldn't make it in time, and was pronounced DOA at the scene.

"It all happened so fast. There was nothing anybody could do to help...I've never seen anything like that in my life. I started crying really hard," witness Theresa Lee, who was in the front car of the train and saw the woman drop to the tracks, told the News. Lee was taken to the hospital and treated for emotional trauma.

Police say it is unclear exactly why she fainted, but many are speculating that it was because of the heat. Diallo's cousin Marrie Diallo told the News she had fainted before: "But it wasn't a recurring thing. She fainted a couple of months ago, but we weren't sure why. Everyone thinks it's the heat."

One reader, who was headed to the train three hours after the accident occurred, told us about the scene at the station:

When I was heading to the train at around 6:00pm, the stations were still closed and I had no idea why or what was going on. As the buses were packed and there was no way to get a cab I thought I'd stick around and wait for the station to re-open. I happened to be standing on the North West entrance when the medical examiner showed up, pulled out a canvas and wood stretcher and descended into the station. The police cleared the area of everyone except news-people, but I moved to the rear of the entrance (opposite the top of the stairs), and out of morbid curiosity, shot a video of the body being removed from the station.

If you're interested, you can see the video here.