MEXICO CITY: Mexico City officials said two subway trains collided between two stations on Saturday, killing at least one and injuring 41 people.
Without providing any additional details about the cause of the collision between the Potrero and La Raza stations, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on her Twitter account that it occurred on Line 3 of the capital's metro system.
According to Sheinbaum, 57 people were injured and taken to seven hospitals after one woman died. For a while, four people—including the train driver—who was reported to be in critical condition—were trapped inside the wreckage. The mayor announced that 26 of the injured had been released late at night.
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While ambulances and rescue teams arrived to treat the injured, dozens of police and soldiers descended on nearby subway stations.
Electrician Edgar Montiel, who was on one of the trains, expressed his gratitude for choosing to board the next-to-last car as opposed to the last car destroyed in the collision.
It had a powerful voice. When I felt the sheets of the car tilt and throw me, I closed my eyes. Amidst screams and calls for help, he claimed that he remained on the floor of the car along with several other passengers.
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He claimed, "The metro lost power and we were suffocated by the smoke coming out. We were having trouble breathing."
The people inside Montiel's car had to wait for paramedics to attend to the injured and assisted everyone out of the vehicle, according to Montiel, who had his left arm and shoulder bandaged.
On his Twitter account, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador expressed his regret for the accident and said the federal government was assisting local authorities with their investigation.
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In May 2021, a portion of the elevated subway system collapsed, killing 26 people and injuring nearly 100 others. Following an investigation, ten former officers were charged with murder, perjury and property damage. The structural failure was attributed to flaws in the manufacturing process.
226.5 kilometers (141 mi) of track and 195 stations make up the Mexico City subway system. Every day, it averages 4.6 million passengers.