Elderly man struck by Luas tram

A MAN who was hit by a Luas tram yesterday and “bounced” onto the pavement, became the second person to be hit by rail transport in Dublin in just 24 hours.

Workers eating lunch on St Stephen’s Green were shocked as they passed the injured man on the ground while emergency workers tended to the bloody scene.

The accident happened as the man, in his 60s, was crossing tram lines at the bottom of Harcourt Street during peak lunchtime traffic.

According to Luas passengers, the front of the tram hit the man throwing him off the road.

He lay with his legs still on the track while emergency services treated his bloody head before he was taken away on a stretcher by ambulance men.

The driver of the Luas said he himself was shaken by the collision.

“He was walking and just stepped right in front of me and bounced off. There was nothing I could do. I’m feeling shaken,” said the man.

Luas services said the injured man was recovering in St James’s Hospital yesterday and described his injuries as minor.

Two units of Dublin Fire Brigade and one ambulance attended the accident.

The tram blocked Cuffe Street and St Stephen’s Green during the incident for about 30 minutes.

The last collision involving a pedestrian and a Luas tram occurred in May.

In February, a man died after being struck by a Red Line Luas. It was the first time someone had died in an incident involving the trams since they began operating in 2004.

On Monday this week, rail services were disrupted in Dublin after a woman was hit by a Dart.

The incident happened at about 10am at Clontarf Road station and the woman was taken to hospital.