DC TRAIN COLLISION KILLS 7
A rush-hour collision between two Metrorail transit trains killed 7 and injured scores yesterday in Washington, D.C. The accident occurred along the Red Line just before 5 p.m. EST on an above-ground track in the District of Columbia near the border with Takoma Park, Maryland. Both trains were on the same track, headed in the same direction, south out of the Fort Totten station. A member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the trailing train struck the other train from the rear and "its first car overrode the last car of the other train in an accordion fashion."
Metrorail officials do not know the cause of the collision and are not likely to know the cause for several days as the investigation unfolds. Recent reports note, however, that the train that slammed into the other was part of an aging fleet that federal regulators had recommended be phased out or retrofitted three years ago. NTSB officials consider the Metrorail transit system's inaction "unacceptable."
Investigators hope to recover recorders from the train which was struck. The recorders can provide key information, include speed and other data. Unfortunately, the trailing train that struck the other train was part of an older fleet that was not equipped with the devices.
Yesterday's crash was the worst in the history of Metrorail, which has shuttled tourists and commuters to and from the nation's capital for more than thirty years. In January 1982, a derailment killed three people. The only other collision between Metro trains occurred in 2004.
