![]() ![]() About four months ago, a fire in a Metro substation left one person dead and 29 injured, and disrupted service for weeks.“I did not have any report nor alert of any problem that could have led us to this situation,” she said. Monday’s crash appeared to be the deadliest accident on the Mexico City Metro since a collision of two trains Oct. In a Twitter message, Ebrard called Monday’s incident “a terrible tragedy,” sent condolences to the families of the victims and said he was at investigators’ full disposal. Monday’s disaster seems certain to raise new questions about Ebrard’s role in the construction of Line 12. ![]() The mayor at the time of the line’s inauguration was Marcelo Ebrard, who is currently the foreign minister in the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The entire line was reopened more than a year and a half later, but questions remained about its safety. The city suspended much of the elevated portion of Line 12 in 2014 to review its safety and make any needed repairs. Line 12, which includes both underground and elevated sections, has been the subject of complaints of shoddy construction for years. The Mexico City Metro, which began operations in 1969, is among the world’s busiest, carrying some 4 million passengers daily on workdays, both in the city and in suburban areas. The newest line in the Mexico City Metro system, it’s an essential part of the transportation network in a metropolitan area that is home to more than 20 million people. Line 12, also known as the Golden Line, was inaugurated in 2012. Relatives of passengers believed to have been on the train rushed to the site and to area hospitals in search of missing loved ones. Hours after the accident, footage appeared to show at least one Metro car dangling precariously from the collapsed overpass, and it was unclear whether there were victims still inside the suspended train or in at least one vehicle trapped on the roadway.Īuthorities temporarily halted rescue operations at about midnight as officials sought to bring in a crane to stabilize the scene. Still apparently intact were a pair of cement columns supporting the overpass, which was between two Line 12 Metro stations, Olivos and Tezonco. Photos from the scene showed that the metal beam supporting the elevated tracks had plummeted to the avenue below. “We have to await information from the inquiry.” “All investigations will be done to discover the causes,” the mayor said. What caused the beam to give way was not clear. ![]() Sheinbaum told reporters that a metal beam supporting the concrete overpass failed as the train rumbled above it. Rescue workers were still removing bodies from the scene hours after the collapse, but those efforts were suspended early Tuesday because of safety concerns for those working near the precariously dangling car, the Associated Press reported. At least seven victims were in surgery, Sheinbaum said. The conditions of those hospitalized were not immediately available. Officials provided no breakdown of how many victims had been in the train and how many were pedestrians or motorists on the roadway below. ![]() Of the injured, 49 people were hospitalized, said Sheinbaum, who rushed to the chaotic scene, where emergency crews pulled victims from the wreckage and tried to stabilize the collapsed overpass. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters that there were children among the dead. ![]()
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