Mexico City: At least 23 people were killed after a bridge on an elevated section of the Mexico City underground system partially collapsed as a train was passing over it late Monday, the Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) reported. At least 49 people were injured, some of them seriously, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum told journalists at the scene of the accident. At least seven people were being operated on in hospitals, and children were among the dead, Sheinbaum said.
The cause of the accident was initially unclear. Several carriages of a line 12 metro train plunged several metres and collided into each other, videos circulating on social media showed.
Initial findings showed the accident occurred when part of the bridge gave way, Sheinbaum said, announcing an investigation into the “unfortunate and serious incident.” Traffic had been flowing under the collapsed section of the bridge at Olivos station on the south-eastern edge of the Mexican capital at the time of the accident. “All we heard was a loud thundering and everything came crashing down,” the Universal newspaper quoted a 26-year-old survivor as saying. Numerous people had been sitting or standing in the train carriage with her. They flew through the air and were thrown against the ceiling. Suddenly the lights went out and people screamed, another woman described in a video posted on the paper’s Twitter account. She fell onto the mass of people and later got out of the carriage, the woman continued. Many of the passengers called for help. Footage showed a large number of rescuers using a ladder to pull passengers out of train carriages as they were hanging from the bridge. Because of the train’s unstable position, a crane was later used in the rescue work to free trapped passengers.
Local residents had reportedly complained about damage to pillars along the route of metro line 12 years ago. After a severe earthquake in September 2017, citizens had worried that the structure could collapse, they said. According to the report, cracks had appeared among other things after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake. There had also been allegations of corruption in the construction of the line. In 2014, not long after the inauguration of line 12, service was interrupted for months for repairs.
