There has been a horrific train collision on the Metro system with one train over the top of another. The news reports are early and a little hysterical. There are four people confirmed dead and possibly more.
It holds particular interest for me because the accident occured about three blocks from where I grew up, so I know the area well. Of course in those days there was no Metro, only freight and passenger trains. I've raided veg from the community garden near where the triage was established. I've crossed the bridge hundreds of times on foot usually on the way to the Kennedy Movie Theatre (now a church) and thousands of times by bus.
The number of fatalities has just risen to six. What is odd, is that stretch of track has a clear line of sight for a little over a quarter mile. But then I've seen train drivers on mobiles or chatting to people in or standing in the doorway of the cabin, in short not giving their full attention to driving.
One of the fortunate things for the rescue is that the accident happened on an area of open track instead of tunnel. Although Blair Road, Nicholson and Oglethorpe our narrow neighborhood streets (Blair is two lanes in both directions, if memory serves). But it the open area allowed people, who could get out, to move away from the scene.
A real tragedy.
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