Mexico City, Mexico: An elevated metro line collapsed in the Mexican capital on Monday, leaving at least 20 men and women dead and dozens injured as a passing train came crashing down, authorities mentioned.
Security camera footage broadcast by neighborhood media showed the carriages plunging towards the ground in the south of the city.
“So far we have 20 people who unfortunately lost their lives,” Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters at the scene.
The city’s civil defense division mentioned on Twitter that about 70 other individuals had been injured in the dramatic accident.
Dozens of emergency workers had been seen attempting to rescue victims from the carriages.
But the work later had to be suspended due to the fact of fears the wreckage was also unstable.
“For now the rescue has been suspended because the train is very weak. A crane is coming to continue” the work, Sheinbaum mentioned.
Part of the train was hanging from the tracks in a tangle of twisted cables with the front ends of two carriages pointing towards the ground in a V-shape.
Also Read: UK, India To Start Formal Free Trade Agreement Talks Within Month
A car or truck was trapped beneath the rubble, but it was unknown if there had been men and women inside.
“Suddenly I saw that the structure was shaking,” an unidentified witness told the Mexican tv network Televisa.
“When the dust cleared we ran… to see if we could help. There were no screams. I don’t know if they were in shock,” she added.
Medics had been seen taking the injured away on stretchers.
The casualties had been rushed to distinctive hospitals in the city, Sheinbaum mentioned.
The accident occurred when a section of the elevated tracks collapsed at the Olivos station at about 10 pm (0300 GMT), she mentioned.
The Mexico City subway has 12 lines and carries millions of passengers each and every day.
Also Read: China Calls For Basic Etiquette After Philippine Minister’s Outburst
Monday’s accident comes just more than a year following two subway trains collided in Mexico City, leaving one dead and about 40 injured as panicked passengers escaped by means of dense smoke.
Social media footage showed panic at the scene of that accident in the city center as lights went out, the ventilation method was interrupted and the station filled with smoke.
In one more incident in January of this year, one particular person died and 29 suffered smoke inhalation injuries in a fire in the metro’s handle center.
The most up-to-date accident comes at a time when Mexico is struggling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, which has left more than 217,000 men and women dead in the nation — one of the world’s highest tolls.