At least one dead and 57 injured in collision on Mexico City’s metro

Two subway trains collided between stations in Mexico City on Saturday, killing at least one person and injuring 57, authorities said.

Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on her Twitter account that the accident happened on Line 3 of the capital’s Metro system, without specifying the cause of the crash, which occurred between the Potrero and La Raza stations.

Sheinbaum said one woman was killed and 57 people injured, who were taken to seven hospitals. Four were trapped in the wreckage for a time, including the driver of one of the trains, who was reported to be in a serious condition.

Dozens of police and soldiers swarmed into the nearby subway stations, while ambulances and rescue teams arrived to treat the injured.

Edgar Montiel, an electrician who was on one of the trains, said he felt lucky because he had decided at the last minute to enter the next-to-last car rather than the rearmost car, which was smashed up in the crash.

“It sounded very strong. I just closed my eyes when I felt the sheets of the car bend and throw me,” Montiel told the Associated Press. He said he remained on the floor of the car with several passengers amid screams and cries for help.

“The power went out to the subway and a lot of smoke began to come out that was suffocating us. We could not breathe well,” he said.

Montiel, who suffered injuries to his arm and leg, said the occupants of his car had to wait about 30 minutes before paramedics arrived to tend to the injured and help everyone exit the car.

Lamenting the accident, Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said on his Twitter account that the federal government was supporting the city officials dealing with the accident.

The Mexico City subway system, which has 140 miles of track and 195 stations, serves an average of 4.6 million passengers every day.

A number of accidents have taken place on the metro in recent years. The most serious was the collapse in May 2021 of a rail overpass on Line 12 that killed 26 people and injured more than 60. An investigation blamed the structural failure on deficiencies in the construction process, and 10 former officials have been charged with homicide, injury and damage to property.