Millions of people braved the cold on Inauguration Day, but one elderly tourist among the unprecedented crowds battled for her life after falling in front of an oncoming Metro car.

At approximately 9:15 a.m., the unidentified 68-year-old woman from Tennessee fell onto the Red line track at the Gallery Place-Chinatown stop, according to a press release from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Due to Metro policy, the passenger’s name was not released.

Eliot Swainson, a Houston Metro transit officer assisting with crowd control, responded to screams indicating that a woman had fallen into the path of an oncoming train.

“I turned around and saw a lady standing in the track area,” Swainson said in the Metro press release.

As the Red line train approached, Swainson realized there was not enough time to pull the woman from the tracks and therefore quickly put his training into practice.

“Washington [Metropolitan Area] Transit [Authority] had given us some training just the day before about [how] underneath the platform there’s a little section in there that gives a little distance,” Swainson said in an NBC interview. “I ended up pushing her down and underneath the platform.”

“He did exactly what was expected [of him], and we are enormously grateful for his actions,” said Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn in the press release.

According to several news sources, the woman was transported to Washington Hospital Center, suffering from a dislocated shoulder, cuts and bruises. She was released later that day.

etro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said that no other injuries were reported on the Metro on Tuesday.

etro General Manager John Catoe had earlier warned the Metro Riders’ Advisory Council in a January meeting that the large influx of people would increase the chances of a possible incident on Inauguration Day.

“Something will happen on [Jan.] 20th. We cannot operate that many trains and not have something happen,” he said in the meeting.

After the incident, the station was closed for approximately one hour before reopening. The resulting delays further strained the already bustling Metro, which was experiencing unprecedented traffic.

According to a Metro press release, over 1.5 million travelers used the Metro on Inauguration Day, breaking the single-day record of 866,681 set on Monday.

“[There were] about 1,120,000 [people] on the trains and 423,000 on the buses,” Taubenkibel said in the press release.

He added that approximately 750,000 commuters travel on the trains on a typical day.

The immense influx of traffic caused frustrations at numerous Metro stations across the city on Tuesday. After the swearing-in, crowds flooded the station and huge lines formed, grinding movement to a virtual standstill on the Metro’s escalators.

“The sheer volume of people on Tuesday was extraordinary,” Taubenkibel said. “But for the most part, people were fine and understood the magnitude of the event.”

Check out The Hoya’s city blog, Outside the Gates, for more inauguration recaps and student experiences.

“