One of the trains had stopped and was waiting for another train ahead to move out of a station when the second train crashed into it from behind.
At least seven people died and 73 were injured, some seriously, when a Washington subway train crashed into the rear of another at during the evening rush hour on Monday.
One of the trains had stopped and was waiting for another train ahead to move out of a station when the second train crashed into it from behind. The front end of the second train jack-knifed into the air and fell on top of the first. The woman driver of the rear train died, along with five passengers.
A fire department official said crews had to cut some people out of what he described as a “mass casualty event”. Rescue workers used ladders to reach the upper carriages and help survivors climb to safety. Seats from the smashed carriages were spilled over the track. “Obviously something went terribly wrong for two trains to be on the same track,” a Metro spokeswoman said.
US president Barack Obama sent his condolences to the victims of the crash. “Michelle and I were saddened by the terrible accident in Washington,” the president said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends affected by this tragedy.”
The DC Metro prides itself on its efficiency and relatively good safety record. There has only been one other case of deaths of passengers in the 33 years of the Washington Metro; in January 1982 three people died in a derailment beneath central Washington DC.
Monday’s crash was between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations, near the border between the District of Columbia and Maryland. The crash at around 5pm happened on the system’s busiest, which runs below ground for much of its length but is at ground level at the accident site. Metro chief John Catoe said the second train was one of the oldest in the fleet. Officials did not say how fast the train was travelling at the time of the accident.
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