Mexico City Train Crash Updates as Bridge Collapse Threatens Rescue Efforts
On 5/4/21 at 3:23 AM EDT
At least 20 people have died - including a number of children - and around 70 were injured after an overpass in Mexico City partially collapsed onto the road on Monday night.
Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro plunged onto a stream of cars near Olivos station below the overpass, which stood around five meters (around 16 feet) above the road
in the southside borough of Tlahuac.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said that a support beam gave way, explaining it collapsed just as the train passed over it.
Rescue workers try to pull out survivors of the rail overpass collapse in Mexico City.
Death and injury resulted from a subway bridge collapse in Mexico City.
Yesterday, at 10:22 p.m., a bridge supporting a moving Mexico City subway train collapsed, causing the train to dive on to the ground below. The death toll was at least 23 and over 70 were injured, according The New York Times. Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City’s mayor, reported that those who died included children.
The Times reports that this elevated subway bridge was relatively new, having been completed in 2012. However, there were allegations of poor construction methods shortly after it opened. Then, a major earthquake hit Mexico City in 2017, causing cracks in the concrete structure of the overpass. One resident said that the cracks had been repaired, but he didn’t know anything about the extent of the repairs.
Share on Twitter
An elevated section of the Mexico City subway has collapsed, sending a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard, killing at least 15 people and injuring about 70, city officials say.
Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said 34 of the injured were hospitalised and people were still trapped inside the train, which was split in two and suspended.
Video showed a car trapped under rubble, with dozens of rescuers searching through wreckage from the collapsed structure. The overpass was about five metres above the road in southern Mexico City. A support beam gave way, Ms Sheinbaum said, adding that the beam collapsed just as the train passed over it late on Monday.
An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed and sent the train plunging towards a busy boulevard late on Monday, killing at least 23 people and injuring at least 79, city officials said.
Rescuers found four bodies trapped inside a rail carriage that was dangling from the overpass but were unable to remove them. It was not clear if those dead were included among the 23. A crane was brought in on Tuesday to lower the carriage.
Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said one of the concrete beams collapsed as a subway train passed over it in one of the deadliest episodes in the history of the city’s subway system, which is among the busiest in the world.
May 4, 2021 Share
An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed and sent a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard late Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring about 70, city officials said.
A crane was working to hold up one subway car left dangling on the collapsed section so that emergency workers could enter to check the car to see if anyone was still trapped. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said 49 of the injured were hospitalized, and that seven were in serious condition and undergoing surgery.
Sheinbaum said a motorist had been pulled alive from a car that was trapped on the roadway below. Dozens of rescuers continued searching through wreckage from the collapsed, preformed concrete structure.