Washington DC Metro Train Crash Kills At Least Six People, Many Injured! (VIDEO)

Posted on June 22, 2009

The collision on the busy Red Line during rush-hour has injured dozens of people, and killed at least six. Read more on the details of the train crash and see video below.

The crash that occured during rush hour is the first fatal crash for the Metro train system since 1982.

Two crowded trains collided on Washington’s subway system and killed at least six people this evening and injured dozens, with commuters trapped in a stack of twisted rail cars that rescuers were still searching hours later.

Witnesses say a train near the Ft. Totten station on the Metro’s busy Red Line was rear-ended by another train, which climbed atop the stopped cars ahead of it, leaving a two-level snarl of debris. The operator of the approaching train, whose name was not immediately released, was among the dead, authorities said.

Rescue workers propped up ladders to help survivors escape from the upper train cars. Seats from the smashed cars spilled out onto the track.

D.C. Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin said rescuers treated 70 people at the scene in the first two hours, including the six who died.

“This is the deadliest incident in the history of Metro,” said Washington City Councilman Jim Graham. He described the wreckage with a single word: “Horror.”

The accident occurred on a curved section of track but during clear weather, on the subway system’s most heavily used line. The crash happened around 5 p.m.

Jervis Bryant, a Prince George’s County teacher, said he heard the collision from a house 2 1/2 blocks away and got to the scene within five minutes.

“We saw the folks banging on the windows trying to get out,” he said, referring to the second train. Rescuers pried the door open, he said, and people streamed out. “They just bum-rushed it.”

Metro Train Crash:

D.C. Mayor on Train Crash:

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