breelavie

Shortly before 5pm two D.C Metro trains collided close to Fort Totten metro station.  Fort Totten metro station is about two stops or so from downtown Silver Spring. The red and green lines have both been shut down and many injuries have been announced.  There is speculation that two deaths have happened so far and more are expected before tonight is over.  Confusion, tears, and shock are seen of victims and bystanders. The FBI are at the scene as well as the D.C police department and fire department. It appears that the metro collision was not head on and one train is stack literally on top of the other.

Now before I make any commentary, I will say for being an incident that happened an hour and 30 minutes ago the D.C police and fire department have been on point with their jobs. This helps lessen casualties but why has this happened? This is not the first time such an incident has occurred on the Metro Red Line(the main line). The last collision happened underground at metro center which is a transfer point for all the lines (yellow, red,blue,and green).

My guess is that these two trains might have been going similar directions for some reason which usually happens. A few days ago I was on the Glenmont route to transfer to the green/yellow line to Columbia Heights metro station. The driver told us we had to be quick because there was a train behind us. I also know that the train tracks switch lines often but usually the metro gets a heads up of what’s on the track! I am not sure what happened,but I feel blessed I wasn’t on that train.

I often use the metro. It’s convenient and I don’t need a car to get around to over crowded yet exciting areas of town such as China Town or near the capital. I also love how I can go to VA out of the blue. Now, this has made me a bit worrisome about using the metro. I am glad it wasn’t the school year! I lived in Silver Spring which the trains go in a ” U” tracking to  N.W. D.C where I go to school. It’s about a hour long metro ride. It’s alarming how after a long day at work something like this happens at rush hour.

My heart goes out to people waiting phone calls and text messages from their loved ones! It’s terrifying to think your family members  are in danger( I know the feeling). It’s more heart breaking when a loved one is lost in tragedy. I hope the metro system takes this seriously and tries to resolve problems like this so that this will NEVER happen again. The metro is a good system but any system should be constantly trying to improve its self.

Press conferences should be on the DC news and CNN shortly so they will keep you posted! Until more information comes in may blessing be upon you!

update:
42 people in hospital.
no longer any active rescue(all off the train by 6:55pm).
2 dead bodies.

no evidence of terrorist interference.

Press conference held within a hour as of 7:00pm.

2nd update:

4 dead bodies possibly discovered on the train now.

one dead body was a metro train operator.

This incident has been declared the deadliest metro incident in DC metro system.

Huge impact( speed check needed).

Nurse was on board at the time of the incident to help the injured.

the operator that died was from the 2nd train.
5:02 or 5:03pm is when the incident happened.

the 2nd train is the one that hit the halted train.The metro traffic will be significantly impacted for the next day or two.

update 3 as of 7:30 pm:

70 patients total. 50 walking wounded. 12 yellow ( moderate injuries). 2 red tags need immediate attention. black tags equal 4 fatalities.

If looking for a loved one call the following number:

202-727-9099 dc emergency line.

7:15 press conference held.

Next briefing not expected until tomorrow morning.

Jan 13 1982  was the last deadly collision( 3 were killed).

A “I don’t know what went wrong,” is not good enough.

brake issues and electrical problems on the metro are not out of normal…get it together!

Update 4: death toll possibly at 7 as of 8:00pm

update 5: 6 confirmed dead. 6 in critical condition as of 8:30 pm.  Both trains were heading north bound. Operator of 2nd train was a male. The 2nd train hit the halted train. Now the emergency line is not recommended for information on loved ones. Now 311 is the number recommended. One more body is possibly still in train.

  update 6 at 8:40pm: The first train halted at a warning light and the 2nd train plodded into the other.

Now people want to know where survivers sat on the train and where the dead sat.

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