Woman dragged by train on Rome metro

— -- Newly released security footage from an incident last week in Rome when a metro train dragged a woman down a platform is raising questions about the system's safety.

The woman, identified by Italian media as Natalya Garkovich, is seen boarding the train car at the Roma Termini stop before appearing to change her mind. As she backs out of the train, it appears the door snags a part of her or her bag. The train begins to move and Garkovich is dragged down the platform. Passengers inside the train reportedly pulled emergency levers while witnesses on the platform tried to free the woman, according to the BBC.

It is unclear at what point the woman is freed from the train's door or whether she was ever pulled into the tunnel, but Italian news agency ANSA English reports she is recovering from multiple fractures.

The driver of the train is seen in the video apparently eating food as the train pulls out of the station, dragging the woman behind. He is under investigation, but unions are defending the driver, saying punishing shifts force drivers to eat their lunch at the wheel, according to ANSA.

"I know that I was wrong and I am devastated by what happened to that woman," the driver, Gianluca Tonelli, told Italian news outlet Corriere della Sera. "But in the video, it can also be seen that I looked twice in the mirror, I was not reckless."

According to the outlet, Tonelli has been suspended.