PHOTO: LIRR train opened doors without a platform for last car

MERRICK, Long Island (WABC) -- A commuter is sounding the alarm about a potential disaster on the rails.

A Long Island Rail Road train stopped at a station with some doors opening to thin air.

When they say "watch the gap" in Merrick they weren't kidding.

A photo, taken by passenger Billy Fleming Wednesday night during rush hour showed that the doors on the last car of the train opened up to nowhere.

"We all stop and all of a sudden someone yelled 'Woah, there's no platform," Fleming said.

"No platform at all?" Eyewitness New asked.

"No platform at all," Fleming said.

There's about a five-foot drop from the platform to the tracks, and the tracks are located on an overpass. There is a low railing to stop anyone from falling about 30 feet down.

"Oh goodness, that's not good, that's kind of scary," said Eugene Riordan, a Merrick LIRR passenger.

"Why did they, why did they miss it?" said Bailey Rose, a Merrick LIRR passenger.

The LIRR is now investigating. One thing is clear, Eyewitness News watched lots of trains approach Merrick Thursday and some come closer to the edge than others, but all had operators who actively checked the area and even gave signals, just not there Wednesday night.

"There was no one there, no one with a flashlight?" Eyewitness News asked.

"Nobody. I mean, it was absolutely apparent that no one on that train, who was driving that train, had any clue what just happened," Fleming said. "I cannot believe that someone didn't step off that train."

Fleming has been commuting to Manhattan for more than 25 years, but this was a first. He called 911 to report it.