3 Dead, 38 Hurt as Subway Trains Collide in Toronto

Two subway trains collided in a sweltering tunnel Friday evening, killing at least three passengers and triggering a frenzied rescue operation.

Hospitals reported at least 38 injuries in the 7 p.m. accident, in which one train traveling 30-40 m.p.h. struck the rear of another that had stopped between stations. The two trains fused in a tangled mass of metal more than 90 feet beneath one of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods.

“Suddenly, bang! I thought it was an explosion,” said one passenger on the stopped train who escaped with minor injuries. “I got thrown forward, and there was black smoke. The lights went out, the emergency lights went on, and the doors flew open. Smoke started to billow in through the doors, so I yelled for people to get out.” Another passenger said the train “crumpled like a pop can.”

More than 100 rescue workers converged on a scene filled with smoke and soot, working in temperatures approaching 100 degrees to free passengers. The train cars were reported smashed against the tunnel ceiling, blocking air vents.

Rescuers had to crawl along the tracks beneath the trains to reach some of the victims, police spokesman Nigel Fontaine said. “They’re all working extremely, extremely hard. . . . I really can’t describe the conditions down there. It’s really, really hot,” Fontaine said.

Police Inspector Mike Sale said the crash was in “one of the deepest portions of the subway system. . . . There’s very little air down there.”

At midnight, a team of physicians went into the tunnel, reportedly to perform surgery on one of at least three people still trapped in the wreckage.

There was no immediate explanation for the collision.

It was the first fatal accident in the history of the subway, which opened in 1954.