WASHINGTON — Two six-car Red Line trains collided at 5 p.m. Monday, June 22, leaving four people dead, including a female train operator. In addition, there were a number of injuries reported, many serious.
According to authorities, one train rear-ended the other. The operator who was killed in the crash was on the trailing train.
“We are extremely saddened that there are fatalities as a result of this accident, which has touched our Metro family. We hope to have more details about the casualties later today. Our safety officials are investigating, and will continue to investigate until we determine why this happened and what must be done to ensure it never happens again,” Metro General Manager John Catoe said.
Metro officials do not know the cause of the collision and are not likely to know the cause for several days as the investigation unfolds. Both trains were on the same track headed toward Shady Grove Metrorail station, according to preliminary reports.
The only other time in Metrorail’s 33-year history that there were customer fatalities was in January 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian Metrorail stations. The only other time that Metrorail had a collision was in 2004 when two trains collided at the Woodley Park/Zoo-Adams Morgan Metrorail station, in which there were some minor injuries.
