23 dead and 65 hospitalized after Mexico City subway collapse

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At least 23 people were killed and 65 are hospitalized in a Mexico City subway accident that occurred on Monday night when a beam supporting a bridge of line 12 between Olivos and Tezonco stations collapsed.

The structure over which the line 12 subway was running collapsed and two of the cars plunged into an avenue full of vehicles at 22.20 local time (03.20 GMT on Tuesday).

Neighbors in the area immediately mentioned 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 Mexico City suffered in September 2017.

“Unfortunately what happened was the expiration of a trabe (beam) when a convoy passed, all the investigations are going to be made to know the causes that provoked this accident,” informed the head of government of the capital, Claudia Sheinbaum, in a press conference at the site of the accident.

Sheinbaum clarified that there are minors among the victims, although she did not specify whether they have died or are injured, although she did confirm that the number of deceased already amounts to 23.

The collapsed structure is part of the subway track built when Ebrard was head of government of the capital (2006-2012).

Line 12 was inaugurated on October 30, 2012, but was closed in March 2014 due to failures and reopened from October to November (in several sections) in 2015.

The section was rehabilitated under the government of Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera (2012-2018) subsequently, according to neighbors in the area, the structure was improved by the September 2017 earthquakes.

Various citizens’ organizations have criticized the precariousness of the city’s subway facilities and the lack of maintenance that causes frequent service interruptions.

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

The Mexican capital’s subway transports close to 6 million people every working day, making it one of the busiest in the world, although its demand drops during the weekend.

The Secretary of Government, José Alfonso Suárez del Real, explained that the injured were being transferred to hospitals in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa municipalities, east of the capital.

The first video images show how two subway cars fell on the avenue where at that moment dozens of vehicles were circulating.

Emergency services arrived immediately to attend to the victims and to remove the collapsed train.

A video from the cameras of the Mexico City Government surveillance system shows how the elevated structure breaks as the train collapse from a height of about 20 meters, and two cars of the convoy are left in a “V” shape and impacted against the ground.