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A Metro Overpass Collapsed In Mexico While A Train Was Driving Over And 24 People Are Dead

At least 24 people, including children, are dead and dozens injured after a Mexico City Metro overpass collapsed while a train was driving over it on Monday night.

Wendy Chuang

Wendy Chuang

— 3 min read
A Metro Overpass Collapsed In Mexico While A Train Was Driving Over And 24 People Are Dead

At least 24 people, including children are dead and dozens injured after a Mexico City Metro overpass collapsed while a train was driving over it on Monday night.

The collapse, which is the deadliest accident in the Mexico metro system in dopecades, occurred on Line 12 near the Los Olivos metro station at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday May 3.

A pair of train cars fell down onto the bustling road, crashing onto the cars below. At least 79 people have been hospitalized from the accident, seven in a serious condition, according to official figures published on Tuesday morning.

An aerial view of the scene after an elevated section of metro track in Mexico City, carrying train cars with passengers, collapsed onto a busy road in Mexico City, Mexico.
An aerial view of the scene after an elevated section of metro track in Mexico City, carrying train cars with passengers, collapsed onto a busy road in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

“We only heard a thunderous noise and everything started coming apart,” a survivor named Mariana told El Universal. “We were sent flying and hit the ceiling.”

Photos and videos showed a split train hanging from the collapsed overpass.

Paramedics transfer an injured person on a stretcher to be taken to a hospital after the collapse of a structure on Line 12 Metro in Mexico City between Tezonco and Olivos stations, where 20 people died and more than 70 were injured. The causes of the accident are still unknown.
Paramedics transfer an injured person on a stretcher to be taken to a hospital after the collapse of a structure on Line 12 Metro in Mexico City between Tezonco and Olivos stations, where 20 people died and more than 70 were injured. The causes of the accident are still unknown. (Photo by Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Rescue teams worked through the night, searching for trapped passengers and survivors.

A car lies under debris after a section of a bridge on the 12 subway line collapses in Mexico City.
A car lies under debris after a section of a bridge on the 12 subway line collapses in Mexico City. (Photo by Jair Cabrera Torres/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said an external company would investigate the cause and “get to the truth” as to what happened.

The line, which was opened in 2012, will remain closed during the investigation, the BBC reported.

An aerial view of the scene after an elevated section of metro track in Mexico City, carrying train cars with passengers, collapsed onto a busy road in Mexico City, Mexico.
An aerial view of the scene after an elevated section of metro track in Mexico City, carrying train cars with passengers, collapsed onto a busy road in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered his condolences to the victims in a press conference, adding that the investigation should be done quickly and “nothing would be hidden” from the people.

View of a crashed train carriage after a train overpass collapsed last night killing 23 people in Mexico City, Mexico.
View of a crashed train carriage after a train overpass collapsed last night killing 23 people in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

Sistema de Transporte Colectivo, Mexico City’s metro, is the second largest metro system in North America, transporting more than five millions passenger per day.

Local residents had expressed concerns about the structural integrity of the overpass, the New York Times reported, following a powerful earthquake in September 2017 that left cracks in the concrete.

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