New York, Dec 5 (IANS/RIA Novosti): New York City police are searching for a man suspected of pushing a passenger onto the subway tracks, where the man was crushed and killed by an oncoming train.

Images of the horrifying incident in midtown Manhattan were captured partially on film by a freelance photographer who snapped photographs of the victim as he stared at the train seconds before his death.

The victim, 58-year-old Ki Suk Han, began arguing with the suspect Monday afternoon on a subway platform at the 49th Street station near Times Square, according to witnesses.

The suspect, a panhandler, had been haranguing passengers waiting for the train, and Han attempted to calm him down, the New York Post cited police sources as saying.

"He went up and tried to calm him down, saying, 'You're scaring people'," a law-enforcement source said.

Police released footage from a surveillance camera showing the two men arguing shortly before the quarrel turned fatal.