MEXICO CITY (AP) – Two subway trains collided between two stations in Mexico City on Saturday, killing at least one person and injuring 41, authorities said.
Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on her Twitter account that the accident occurred on line 3 of the capital’s metro, without specifying the cause of the collapse between the Potrero and La Raza stations.
Sheinbaum said one woman was killed and 57 people were injured, who were taken to seven hospitals. Four people were stuck in the rubble for some time, including a train driver, who was said to be in serious condition. By late afternoon, the mayor said 26 of the injured had been released.
Dozens of police and soldiers crowded nearby subway stations as ambulances and rescue teams arrived to treat the injured.
Edgar Montiel, an electrician who was on one of the trains, said he felt lucky that he decided at the last minute to board the penultimate car rather than the rearmost one, which was crushed in the crash.
“It sounded really cool. I just closed my eyes when I felt the metal of the car bend and throw me,” Montiel told The Associated Press.
He said he was left on the floor of the car with several passengers amid screams and cries for help.
“The power went out in the subway and a lot of smoke started coming out and it suffocated us. I couldn’t breathe well,” she said.
Montiel, who had his left arm and shoulder in slings, said the occupants of his car had to wait about 30 minutes until paramedics arrived to treat the injured and help everyone out of the car.
Complaining about the accident, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on his Twitter account that the federal government was supporting city officials dealing with the accident.
In May 2021, an elevated section of the subway system collapsed, killing 26 people and injuring nearly 100. An investigation attributed the structural deficiency to deficiencies in the construction process, and 10 former officials were charged with murder, grievous bodily harm and damage materials.
Mexico City’s subway system has 226.5 kilometers (141 mi) of track and 195 stations. It serves an average of 4.6 million passengers per day.
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