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Read the press release here.

Rat Attacks Woman on Subway

By Leslie Albrecht | June 8, 2012 2:56pm | Updated on June 8, 2012 4:07pm
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Washington Heights had fewer reported rats in 2011, but still more than other Manhattan neighborhoods.
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DNAinfo/Michael Miguez

COLUMBUS CIRCLE — A morning subway ride turned into a nightmare when a rat attacked a straphanger on an A train car.

The bold rodent scratched a female passenger on the leg at 7:53 a.m. Friday on a southbound A train at the Columbus Circle station, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Charles Seaton said.

Reports of the creepy encounter sparked a flood of disgusted comments on Twitter. "My WORST nightmare!!" wrote @cali28fornia. "Good thing this is the train I take every single day," chimed in @QuarterLifeSam. "This is just vile," added @cat_fuentes.

The chilling incident had some permanently swearing off the subway. "Never riding the NYC subway again," wrote @LorettaEstrada.

The woman had just boarded the car when the rat attacked her, Seaton said. She got off the train, and emergency responders took her by ambulance to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, Seaton said.

A rat in the New York City subway.
A rat in the New York City subway.
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Flickr/DelusionProductions

The passenger's name, age and condition weren't immediately available.

The Straphangers Campaign surveyed subway stations in 2011 and observed rats on 15 of 139 platforms