BEIJING, China: An evening rush-hour accident on the Beijing metro left 102 commuters with fractures after a rear-end collision on an above-ground section of tracks.
Beijing — where such incidents are rare — has been hit by snowstorms in recent days, disturbing operating conditions and resulting in transport delays across the city.
The accident occurred at 6:57 pm Thursday, when the last two cars of a metro train separated from the carriages in front of them, officials initially said.
As of about 11:00 pm, a total of 515 people were sent to the hospital for check-up of which 102 suffered fractures, state media reported on Friday, according to AFP.
By 6:00 am Friday, 423 people had been released from the hospital, while 67 others were still receiving treatment and twenty-five 25 were under observation.
No deaths had been recorded.
A preliminary investigation into the major incident found the snowy weather had caused slippery tracks and a “signal degradation”, causing a rear-end collision.
Social media users reported witnessing passengers fall to the ground, with some complaining of back pain.
Videos of metro accident
Media images showed riders on the floor and partial lighting outages, while some paasengers used emergency hammers to try to break the train windows to escape.
In other footages, firefighters were seen helping to evacuate elderly passengers, while stranded commuters made their way through deep snow to leave the scene.
The train was travelling on an above-ground section of track when the accident occured close to Xi’erqi Station as it headed toward Changping district in the northern part of the city.
Beijing Subway, the train’s operator, said on Weibo that they sincerely apologize for the accident that happened this evening.
