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9 Killed, 76 Injured in Deadliest Disaster in Metro History
posted 06/23/09 11:04 am
ABC 7 News - 9 Killed, 76 Injured in Deadliest Disaster in Metro History
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WASHINGTON - A Metro train slammed into the back of a stopped train on the Red Line during the height of rush hour Monday afternoon, killing seven people and injuring dozens more in the deadliest crash in the transit agency's 33-year history.

After an announcement Monday night that the death toll was up to nine, Chief Dennis Rubin of D.C. Fire and Emergency Services revised the death toll back down to seven on Tuesday morning. Then later in the morning that count went back up to nine, according to Metro General Manager John Catoe. Around 9:30 a.m., Catoe told the Washington Post that five more bodies had just been removed from the wreckage.

Chief Rubin also said Tuesday morning that the recovery effort was ongoing, as there were still bodies on the train.

Crews were on the scene all night, using cutting tools and the jaws of life to disentangle and separate the twisted cars which were ripped open and smashed together by the force of the collision.

"The scene is as horrific as you can imagine," D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said in a news conference . "The one car of the train squeezed almost together."

NTSB board member Debbie Hersman described it as "a scene of real devastation." She added that "significant survivable space was compromised in the train cars."

» video: NTSB 9:45 p.m. news conference
» video: Fenty, NTSB 8:25 p.m. news conference
» video: Victims' injuries widely vary
» video: Metro collision witness speaks of ordeal
» video: Hear from victims onboard crashed train
» video: Mayor Fenty reacts
» video: Metro's general manager gives update
 » send us your video and pictures

"It is my preliminary understanding that this is ... the deadliest accident in the history of Metro..." Fenty said in a news conference shortly after 7 p.m., about two hours after the trains collided. "We want to express our condolences to all the family members... Our hearts go out to the many loved ones."

D.C. Fire and EMS Chief Dennis Rubin said Monday that six people were dead; six patients had life-threatening injuries, 14 had moderate injuries and 50 people had minor injuries -- "walking wounded", Rubin said.

Two D.C. firefighters involved in the rescue efforts suffered minor injuries, Rubin said. It was unclear if those two injuries were included in the earlier total he gave. 

Rubin said late Monday that firefighters were still clearing the last two cars, the most severely damaged ones. More than 200 firefighters were called to the scene.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators are on scene. Their investigation will begin once D.C. Fire and EMS has cleared the scene.

The crash around 5 p.m. EDT 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 site near the Maryland border. 

"It was a regular ride and then it was dust," said David Holland, who was in the second car of the striking train. "I went up in the air, and when I got up everybody was discombobulated. My leg hurt a little bit. When we got off the train we saw people who [were] ejected from the train. It's just a mess."

"I saw the terror in the folks' faces in the back of the train here as they were beating on the windows trying to get out of the cars," said Jervis Bryant, a witness.

Jay Korff Reports: Victims Pulled From Wreckage

"It sounded like thunder to me," added Kimberly Brown, a witness.
ABC 7 News Slideshow:
    Deadly Metro Collision


Metro General Manager John Catoe said one train was stopped short of the Fort Totten platform and was waiting for another train to clear the station when it was struck from behind by another train. It's unclear why the driver of the second train did not stop.

Catoe said the operator of the second train was killed in the crash. 

Catoe also said trains will not run on that section of track Tuesday. He also said all trains would run in manual mode, with the operator in control.

"Metro customers should avoid the red line from Rhode Island Avenue to Glenmont," Catoe said shortly after 9 p.m. He added there would still be shuttle bus service. The transit agency was also working on a more definitive plan for morning commuters.

Catoe declined to answer repeated questioning about whether the striking train was being operated in manual mode. He said Metro policy is to operate trains in automatic mode during peak hours.

NTSB board member Debbie Hersman said nine investigators from her office were dispatched to the scene and would be looking at whether the striking train was being operated manually, or in automatic.

"It's very early in this investigation (to determine if) previous recommendations are applicable in this instance. We are going to be looking very closely at all of the past recommendations we have issued, Metro's compliance with those recommendations, and whether or not those recommendations apply in this accident scenario.

Catoe did say the stopped train was a 5,000-series. The striking train was a 1,000-series train, the oldest in Metro's fleet. It is scheduled to begin being retired in 2012, according to the NTSB Web site.

Hersman also addressed NTSB's previous recommendations about the crash-worthiness of 1000-series trains.

"It's very early in this investigation (to determine if) previous recommendations are applicable in this instance," she said." We are going to be looking very closely at all of the past recommendations we have issued, Metro's compliance with those recommendations, and whether or not those recommendations apply in this accident scenario."

Officials would not say how fast the train was traveling at the time of the accident. The crash occurred in an area with a sizable distance between rail stations in which trains are allowed to travel at higher speeds, Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith said.

Investigators are searching the wreckage for the trains' devices that record operating speeds and commands, Hersman said. 

The collision happened near where New Hampshire Avenue crosses over the tracks.

District residents seeking information on family members who may have been involved in the crash should call 311. People outside of D.C. should call 202-737-4404.

District of Columbia fire spokesman Alan Etter said crews were cutting apart the trains to get people out in what he described as a "mass casualty event." Rescue workers propped steel ladders up to the upper train cars to help survivors escape. Seats from the smashed cars had spilled out onto the track. 

Passenger Jodie Wickett, a nurse, told CNN she was seated on one train, sending text messages on her phone, when she felt the impact. She said she texted someone that it felt like the train had hit a bump.

"From that point on, it happened so fast, I flew out of the seat and hit my head." Wickett said she stayed at the scene and tried to help. She said "people are just in very bad shape."

"The people that were hurt, the ones that could speak, were calling back as we called out to them," she said. "Lots of people were upset and crying, but there were no screams."

One man said he was riding a bicycle across a bridge over the Metro tracks when the sound of the collision got his attention.

"I didn't see any panic," Barry Student said. "The whole situation was so surreal."

Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said less than two hours after the crash that federal authorities had no indication of any terrorism connection. 

The only other time in Metrorail's 33-year history that there were customer fatalities was in January 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian Metro stations underneath downtown.

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