Jun 22, 2009 | 2 min read

DC Metrorail Rush Hour Train Collision Kills at Least Six Injurying Many Others

Tragedy struck in Washington D.C. at the height of rush hour with a fatal Metrorail transit train collision where one train smashed into the back of another one. So, far there are at least 6 people dead and many others seriously injured. The calamity of the situation is such that the front end of the trailing train jack knifed violently into the air and fell on top of the first train.

Here is a simple example of damage caused by a train crash at slow speeds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWTZzuRxFmA

Being labeled the worst accident in the Metrorail system’s 33year history, both trains were ripped open and smashed together. This mass casualty event required some firefighter crews to cut people out of the wreckage. There are at least 22 people listed in critical condition.

Apparently something went wrong wither with the system’s signals, or perhaps operator error and any numerous other potential causes that experts are still trying to discover as they sift through the horrific damage at the accident scene.

The crash happened around 5 p.m. and took place on the system’s Red Line, Metro’s busiest, which runs below ground for much of its length but is at ground level at the accident site near the Maryland border in northeast Washington.

Metro chief John Catoe said the first train was stopped on the tracks, waiting for another to clear the station ahead, when the trailing train, one of the oldest in the Metro fleet, plowed into it from behind.

Although rare in occurrence, mass transit systems like D.C.’s Metrorail can have accidents. Unfortunately, when such crashes occur they are usually dramatic and horrific and the extent of injury and death is usually predicated only on the time it occurred and how many passengers are on board. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and their families in this terrible time of stress and grief.

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