Death toll 7 in D.C. Metro crash

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Seven people were killed in a rush-hour collision between two Metro trains in Washington on Monday, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said Tuesday.
Firefighters climb atop the wreckage of two Metro subway trains that collided Monday in Washington.

Firefighters climb atop the wreckage of two Metro subway trains that collided Monday in Washington.

There had been conflicting figures on the number of deaths.

Fenty said 76 people were taken to hospitals, including two who were in critical condition. Their conditions remained stable overnight, he said at a news conference. The condition of another critical patient was upgraded.

Two of the injured were emergency responders, said Washington Fire Chief Dennis Ruben.

Another news conference is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET, Fenty said. By that time, the trains will have been taken apart, and "hopefully, there won't be any more" deaths discovered, he said.

Officials planned to begin notifying next-of-kin this morning, Fenty said, adding that offices already have been fielding calls from families seeking information.

Because there could be more bodies in the wreckage, the crash site is being treated as a rescue scene, Fenty said.

The crash occurred along the Red Line just before 5 p.m. on an above-ground track in the District of Columbia near the border with Takoma Park, Maryland. See location of crash »

Commuter traffic along the Red Line, where the crash happened, will be "severely" affected Tuesday, officials said.

Before Fenty spoke there had been conflicting death toll figures from the crash. Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said seven had died, but CNN affiliates said as many as nine people were killed. Video Watch woman say she, fellow passengers "went flying" »

"The scene is as horrific as you can imagine, Fenty said Monday. One car was almost squeezed completely together."

A Metro statement said both trains were on the same track, headed in the same direction, south out of the Fort Totten station. The operator who was killed was on the trailing train, it said.

"Metro officials do not know the cause of the collision and are not likely to know the cause for several days as the investigation unfolds," the statement said.

A National Transportation Safety Board team arrived to investigate the crash, assisted by the FBI Evidence Response Team, according to NTSB board member Deborah Hersman, who said she had walked the tracks by the accident scene.

"I can tell you it is a scene of real devastation down there," she said. iReport.com: Were you there? Share your photos, video

Hersman said each train had six cars. The trailing train, she said, struck the other train from the rear and its "first car overrode the last car of the other train in an accordion fashion."

She said it wasn't clear whether the trains carried devices that record speed and other data.

"It depends on the series of the cars," she said. "And then it will depend on whether the devices are damaged." Photo See pictures of crash site »

The recorders can provide key information, according to Peter Goelz, a former NTSB managing director.

The investigators "are going to look very carefully at the event recorder in the train that hit the stopped train," he said. "Unfortunately, in a number of train accidents recently, both in Boston and in Southern California, you had the engineer being distracted. My hope is that's not the case here."

In a Boston trolley accident in May and a commuter train accident near Los Angeles last fall, the operators were sending text messages just before the accidents. Since then, the California Public Utilities Commission has banned train engineers from using cell phones on duty.

The Washington transit authority told investigators that trains normally operate in automatic mode at rush hour, Hersman said, adding that investigators were trying to determine whether that was true during the accident.

All trains were to operate in manual, instead of automatic, mode Tuesday, an official at the briefing said.

Amy Kudwa of the Department of Homeland Security said there was no indication of anything other than an accident.

It was the second Metro crash to involve fatalities in the 33-year history of the transit authority. In January 1982, a derailment killed three people. The only other collision between Metro trains occurred in 2004.

"We are extremely saddened that there are fatalities as a result of this accident, which has touched our Metro family," Metro General Manager John Catoe said in a statement. "We hope to have more details about the casualties later today. 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." Video Watch injured passengers limp from the scene »

President Obama issued a statement saying that he and the first lady were "saddened by the terrible accident," and thanking first responders "who arrived immediately to save lives."

A survivor, Jodie Wickett, described feeling a bump on the track, then being flung forward when the train suddenly halted a few seconds later. She said she hit her head, but managed to get out and go to where the collision occurred a few cars up, with one subway car lying atop another.

"There was debris, and people pinned under in between the two cars," Wickett said. "We were just trying to get them out and help them as much as possible, pulling back the metal."

People were badly injured, she said, adding that "ones that could speak were calling back as we called out to them."