Metro CDMX: what is known about the train crash in the capital of Mexico that left at least 1 dead and almost 60 injured

The collision of two subway trains in Mexico City left at least one dead and 57 injured, reported the head of government Claudia Sheinbaum.

The incident occurred on Saturday morning. in a tunnel on Line 3between the seasons Pasture and the Race. It was caused by the “reach between two trains that resulted in a collision,” Sheinbaum said.

A female passenger, identified only by name, yaretzi, died as a result of the impact. Four other people were trapped in the affected wagons, including the driver of the advancing train, but they could be rescued alive and taken to hospitals.

“I have come from being with her (Yaretzi’s) parents and they are being given all the necessary support,” Sheinbaum said.

“Our priority is the victims and justice will be done. There is an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office and the experts. It will go to the last consequences,” the mayor said at a press conference.

At least three cases of train crashes have occurred in the Mexico City subway in recent years. In addition, the collapse of an elevated section with construction deficiencies left 27 dead in 2021.

What is known about the incident?

The train crash occurred at 09:16 local time (15:16 GMT), according to the first data from the investigations released by Sheinbaum.

A train that had departed from the Potrero station headed towards La Raza, a section where the tracks enter a tunnel, but stopped at one point along the way. The momentary breaks between stations they are not unusual in this transport.

Another train that had left in the same direction it advanced to the point where the previous one was stopped and hit it. According to images released by passengers, the driver’s cabin was embedded in the back of the train that preceded him.

Passengers who were not seriously injured had to be evacuated via the tracks. Several emergency teams, the National Guard and the Army carried out a large operation to rescue the injured people.

Several witnesses narrated to the Mexican press how the strong impact occurred.

“It was something terrible, very ugly. The convoy stopped in the middle of the tunnel and we felt the trancazote (blow). I was coming next to a bench that divides another carriage and the entire sheet submerged,” Edgar Montiel told the Milenio newspaper.

The progress of the trains in the Metro is managed through a piloting system, visual signals and communication. However, workers have denounced in the past that the equipment with which they operate is outdated or damaged due to lack of maintenance.

Faced with a question in this regard, Sheinbaum limited himself to responding in his press conference that “there is a budget.”

one more crash

The incident occurred on one of the oldest lines of the Mexico City subway, which was opened in 1969 and transports more than 5 million passengers for day.

Several collisions between trains have already occurred in the past.

The first occurred in October 1975, when the clash of two units at the Viaducto station on Line 2 left 31 dead and more than 70 injured. It is the most fatal incident that occurred in the Metro.

Years later, in May 2015a train that was advancing under a heavy hailstorm could not stop and hit another convoy that was stopped at the Oceania station on Line 5. There were no victims with serious injuries.

In March 2020, a train collided with another at the Tacubaya station on Line 1 when a landslide occurred on the tracks, causing the death of a police officer. According to the Attorney General’s Office, the accident was caused by an operating error for which two workers were prosecuted.

The last serious accident in the system occurred in May 2021, when an elevated span collapsed under the weight of a passing train. Twenty-seven people died in the incident attributed to infrastructure construction failures.