Nine killed, 76 injured in Washington Metro collision

In the deadliest crash in the history of the Washington Metro, at least nine people were killed and 76 injured when one speeding train slammed into another during rush hour on Monday evening.

Though there was no immediate report of any Indian American casualty, the accident between Fort Totten and Takoma Park close to the District of Columbia's borderline with the state of Maryland at 5 pm local time has thrown the country's second-largest Metro system out of gear.

Both the trains were on the same track, and one of them was stationary when the crash happened, John Catoe, Metro

General Manager told the media. One of the dead was the female operator of one of the trains.

However, names of the dead have not been released so far for privacy reasons.

American President Barack Obama issued a statement, saying he and his wife Michelle were "saddened by the terrible accident" which happened in the overground section of Metro in the northeast of the city.

"I want to thank the brave first responders who arrived immediately to save lives," Obama said.

Pictures flashed by local media showed two cars of one train on top of the other. Fire Department officials said some of the injured were in serious condition and the number of casualty could go high.

Seventy-six people were treated for injuries, including two with life-threatening injuries and two of the injured were emergency responders, said Chief Dennis Rubin of Washington's Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.

Washington fire spokesman Alan Etter said some 200 firefighters were pressed into service from Washington and nearby areas to carry out the rescue operation.

"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.

In fact, the casualty could have been much higher if the accident had happened in the underground section of the Metro, according to experts.

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty described it as "the deadliest accident in the history of our Metro train transit system". He added, "We have to at this time continue to act and behave as a rescue scene."

In Metro's 33-year history, the previous deadliest accident was on January 13, 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment underneath downtown.

Image: People work at the scene where two transit trains were involved in a crash in Washington.
Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters   Text: PTI