The accident recorded on January 7 on Line 3 of the metro was caused by two causes, Ulysses Lara, spokesman for the Mexico City Attorney General’s office, reported this Friday.
According to the official, the incident was generated by:
- intentional burning and slashing Cables located in two connection registers containing electrical wiring for communication, signaling and automatic piloting at Potrero station.
- reckless driving Of train number 24, which does not respect the measures in safety mode.
The accident injured 106 users and killed Yaretzi Hernandez, a plastic arts student at UNAM.
What damage was found at Potro station?
On the second point, Lara said that the driver did not respect the speed limit. 35 kph, This measure, he said, ensures that operators “can respond in a timely manner to potential and avoid accidents,
The official said that Metro personnel had received information about a signal failure on Line 3 on Friday, January 6 (i.e. a day before the accident).
Elements of the transportation system proceeded to review the area and found “heavy material damage”: intentionally burning wires In a record in the eastern sector of Potrero Station.
Lara reported that workers determined that repairing the cables would take several work shifts and, as a result, would force a partial suspension of service on Line 3.
For this reason, the metro officials have decided to be active. a safety gear alert Under this measure, for operating trains in the area, operators cannot go beyond 15 kmph. in the curve areaand over 35 kmph in straight lines,
Was the driver at fault?
The spokesperson added that operators cannot switch to other driving modes under the safety gear. without the authorization of the central control post,
But then what happened on line 3? Lara told that on the basis of information extracted from the black box of Convoy 24, he searched the following facts,
- The conductor of the 24 train departed at 9:05 am from Potrero station towards Universidad.
- He exceeded the speed limit, for which the metro system stopped him.
- The employee reportedly later changed auto-pilot, Trains under this mode can reach up to 45 kilometers per hour.
- The collision with convoy 23 was detected at 9:06 am.
- There is no evidence that the driver has created emergency braking or maneuvering to stop the train.
“The driver of Convoy 24 did not follow the guidelines contained in his technical manual, he exceeded the speed limit in restricted manual driving; and switched on automatic piloting when prohibited under the safety gear,” Lara said.
Therefore, the release of the spokesperson reported an arrest warrant For murder and criminal injuries against Carlos ‘N’, the driver of train No. 24.
The driver was one of the four people who were trapped between the trains after the accident.
