Fainting foreigner sends Shanghai subway riders dashing for the doors

Surveillance video of a foreigner fainting in a Shanghai subway car who triggered a small stampede of panicked passengers went viral on Wednesday.

The footage from August 9 showed a man seated on a metro Line 2 car who suddenly fell to his right and leaned onto a female passenger. The woman and passengers around him immediately jumped from their seats and ran for the door.

When the train arrived at Jinke Road Station, passengers emptied the car within 10 seconds, leaving the unconscious man lying on the ground.

The foreign man regained consciousness and stood up in an empty train car as the crowd scrambled on the platform.

He then sat back and continued on to the next stop, where he got off.

Reports pointing out that not one passenger came to the man's aid aroused heated debate among Web users.

Shanghai metro employees said passengers had panicked, and some reported the incident immediately to subway authorities, according to a report on local news portal xinmin.cn.

While many Web users condemned the passengers for their indifference, others blamed the prevalent feeling that public spaces are not safe.

"I don't think people ran because he passed out. They just didn't know what happened," commented Web user backy-lulu. "In light of recent cases of random killings and arson in public places, people just followed others and ran away."

A similar subway stampede was triggered in Shanghai after a commuter's mobile phone suddenly began burning, Shanghai Morning Post reported on July 19.

According to an online survey by sina.com.cn, some 41 percent of around the 5,000 total participants said they would help the fainted passenger under the same circumstances, while 29 percent opted to run.