MRT coach goes out of control, slams through station fence

Published August 13, 2014 3:45pm

(UPDATED 9:19 p.m.) Dozens were injured Wednesday afternoon after a defective coach of the Metro Rail Transit went out of control and slammed through a steel barricade of the Taft Avenue Station in Pasay City.

The injured included passengers of the coach as well as pedestrians at the corner of EDSA and Taft Avenue who were hit by debris, radio dzBB's Manny Vargas reported.

GMA News' "24 Oras" reported that at least 50 were hurt in the mishap. Among them was a six-month old baby.

Radio dzBB, in its early evening reports, indicated 36 injured persons. It said 24 were brought to the Pasay City General while 12 were taken to the San Juan de Dios Hospital.

Many of those injured were women, as front-end coaches of MRT trains are reserved for women, children and the elderly.

One of the passengers of the MRT train said many passengers began to sense that something was wrong when they saw a spark while the train was passing the Magallanes station in Makati.

GMA News' YouScooper Rey Laguda shared a photo of the derailed train.

Post by YouScoop.

What happened?

In a text message to GMA News Online, Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) spokesman Miguel Sagcal said the passengers were not able to alight from the MRT coach before it went through the safety barrier.

"The derailed train initially stalled between the Magallanes and Taft stations and, following railway SOPs, had to be pushed by the next oncoming train," Sagcal said.

"The two trains were coupled or linked together, but along the way, this coupling disconnected. This caused the derailed train to go past the Taft platform," he added.

Sagcal said Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya has instructed the MRT management to assist the injured passengers. Abaya will inspect the site and get a full report on the incident, Sagcal added.

Interviews by dzBB's Vargas indicated that many of the passengers wanted to get off the train before it crashed, but were not allowed to do so.

The train also hit a concrete lamppost, which fell on a sports utility vehicle with license plate XJH-655.

Meanwhile, the MRT apologized for the incident but did not give further details.

"Advisory: We are currently undergoing necessary intervention for the technical problem encountered. We apologize for the inconvenience TY," it said in a tweet.

The MRT 3 is operated by a private firm, the Metro Rail Transit Corporation, in partnership with the DOTC.

It connects North Avenue to Taft Avenue in Pasay via Epifanio delos Santos Avenue. It ferries about 500,000 passengers a day though it has a rated capacity of only 350,000.

The train has suffered glitches in the past, and its aging coaches have been the subject of numerous complaints from commuters. —With reports from Rouchelle Dinglasan & Joel Locsin/NB/YA, GMA News

Tags: derailed, mrtcrash, metrorailtransit