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Tragedy in Mexico City: at least 23 dead after the collapse of a subway bridge

2021-05-04T23:34:36.760Z


The event occurred shortly before 10:20 pm (local time) between the Olivos and Tezonco stations. The head of government of the capital confirmed that 65 people were transported to various health centers. "All investigations will be carried out to find out the causes that caused this accident," he said.


The Mexico City subway, one of the busiest in the world, suffered one of the most tragic accidents on Monday night since its inauguration half a century ago.

At least

23 people died and about 65 were injured

after a section of the elevated track on which the metro line 12 runs collapsed between the Olivos station and Tezonco.

The accident occurred shortly before 10:20 pm (local time) and emergency services immediately arrived to attend to the victims and to remove the collapsed train.



"Unfortunately, there are children among the dead," confirmed, without specifying how many, Claudia Sheinbaum, head of Government of Mexico City.

Sheinbaum clarified through Twitter that 65 people were transferred to different hospitals and that seven are in serious condition.

"They found his cell phone," says a relative who looks for his brother from hospital to hospital after the subway accident in CDMX

May 4, 202104: 57

After the accident, line 12 of the metro will remain closed and

490 buses will operate to cover the service,

as announced

Sheinbaum, who detailed the facts after going to the scene of the event: "Unfortunately what happened was the expiration of a trabe (beam) when a convoy passed, all investigations will be carried out to find out the causes that caused this accident", explained.

The Secretariat for Comprehensive Risk Management and PC published the list of transfers to hospitals on its Twitter account:

The first video images published on social networks show how two subway cars fell on the road where dozens of vehicles were currently circulating.

Image at the station of the two Mexico City Metro wagons collapsed on an avenue. Civil Protection Mexico

In a video of the cameras of the surveillance system of the Government of Mexico City, it is observed how the elevated structure breaks when the train collapses, from a height of about 20 meters, and two wagons of the convoy remain in "V" "and hit the ground. The crash occurred on Tláhuac avenue where there was moderate traffic, just over a mile (about two kilometers) from the Periférico Oriente highway.

[Nine residents of a town in Guatemala were murdered and buried in a grave in Mexico.

No government investigated]

Adrián Loa Martínez, 46, said his mother called him to tell him that his brother and sister-in-law were driving when the overpass collapsed and that beam fell on their car.

Martínez confirmed that his sister-in-law was rescued and sent to a hospital, but that his brother, José Juan Galindo, was crushed and feared he was dead.

"He is down there now," he told reporters pointing to the scene of the incident, according to the AP news agency.

Aerial view made with a drone that shows the collapse of the subway cars in Mexico City.EFE / Sáshenka Gutiérrez

Gisela Rioja Castro, 43, was looking for her husband, Miguel Ángel Espinoza, 42.

Castro explained that her husband always took that train after finishing work in a store, but that he had not come home and was not answering his phone.

When he found out what happened, he immediately feared the worst, but has received no information from the authorities.

"Nobody knows anything," he

said.

Residents of the area immediately criticized on social networks the repeated complaints they have been making about the poor condition of the structure that was damaged in the last major earthquake that Mexico City suffered in September 2017, although it is not clear that it had to watch.

Mexico City has the second largest subway system in North America, after the New York City subway.

The installation is part of the subway bridge built during the administration of Marcelo Ebrard, former head of government of the capital between 2006 and 2012, and now the country's chancellor.

The metro of the Mexican capital transports about 6 million people every working day

, which makes it one of the busiest in the world, although its demand drops during the weekend.



Various citizen organizations have criticized the precariousness of the facilities and the lack of maintenance that causes frequent interruptions in the metro service.

On January 9, a fire broke out in the control center of the Mexico City Metro, in the Historic Center, which caused one death and at least 30 intoxicated workers, in addition to six lines without service.

But in addition, the metro in the Mexican capital has had at least two serious accidents since its inauguration half a century ago.

In March last year, a collision between two trains at the Tacubaya station caused the death of one passenger and 41 injuries.

In 2015, a train that did not stop in time crashed into another at the Oceania station, injuring 12 people.

The most serious accident was a collision at the Viaducto station in 1975, there were 31 dead and more than 70 injured, according to the newspaper El Universal.

Rescue work on line 12 of the Mexico City metro.EFE

The event occurred on the newest line of the Mexico City metro, line 12, which runs to the south side of the city.

Like many of the city's dozens of metro lines, it runs underground through more central areas of the capital, but then runs over elevated concrete structures on the outskirts of the city.

The collapse could be a serious blow to Ebrard, who is seen as a potential presidential candidate in the 2024 elections.

Accusations of design flaws and poor construction on the metro line

emerged shortly after Ebrard left office. Mayor.

The line had to be partially closed in 2013 in order to repair the tracks.

"What happened today in the Metro is a terrible tragedy (...) Of course, the causes must be investigated and responsibilities defined," he wrote.

"I reiterate myself at the entire disposal of the authorities to contribute in whatever is necessary."

It is not yet known whether the magnitude 7.1 earthquake in 2017 could have affected the metro line.

With information from AP, EFE and Milenio.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2021-05-04

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