advertisement

---

During Monday's evening rush hour, two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Red Line trains collided near the nation's capital. Seven people died, including a female train operator, according to the agency. The crash is the deadliest in Metrorail's 33-year history.

The crash, which occurred at 5 p.m. (EDT), also caused several injuries, many of them serious, according to the authority.

WMATA officials are working with the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the accident.

"We are committed to ... determine why this happened and what must be done to ensure it never happens again," said WMATA General Manager John Catoe in a prepared statement.

The cause of the accident likely won't be determined for several days, WMATA said. Both trains were on the same track headed toward the Shady Grove Metrorail station.

The only other fatal WMATA train accident occurred in January 1982, when three people died after a train derailed between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations.