(Updated at 6:30 p.m.) A person has been hit by a train at the Clarendon Metro Station.
Emergency vehicles have surrounded the station, shutting down N. Highland Street and partially blocking Clarendon and Wilson Boulevards. Public access to the station has been cut off.
Technical rescue crews from the fire department and from Metro managed to free the victim, who was reported to be trapped under the train. The victim has been rushed to a local hospital via ambulance.
Riders on the striking train were not able to exit the train until 6:15 p.m., almost 75 minutes after the victim was struck. A woman who had a minor medical emergency while on the striking train was earlier taken to an ambulance via stretcher. The remaining passengers are now walking out of the station. Many are heading on foot to their destinations further up the Orange Line.
Firefighters were preparing to distribute water to those passengers at the end of the platform, according to riders. While the air in the trains was described as hot and stale, riders we spoke to said no one panicked.
“It was very cordial,” one man said.
Metro riders have reported significant delays throughout the Orange Line. Shuttle service has been requested between Rosslyn and Ballston, according to Metro. Very crowded conditions have been reported at the Rosslyn Metro station. Arlington County police have responded to the station to assist passengers, according to department spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal.
Arlington County says the Clarendon station may remain closed for “several hours.”
Update at 7:20 p.m. — Orange Line trains are now running on both tracks through the Clarendon Metro station, according to WMATA.
Update at 7:35 p.m. — Roads near the station have reopened.
Update at 8:25 p.m. — The following photos were taken shortly after emergency responders arrived at the station.
They’re shuttle-busing from Rosslyn to Ballston and suggesting that people going to Alexandria take the Yellow Line. Good luck getting home tonight, people.
Fire scanner available here:
http://www.cherrydalevfd.org/custom.html?id=9648
Gees, I hope the person is okay.
I arrived at Farragut West just in time to hear about the incident and could get out. Grateful not to be stuck on a train between stations.
Lots of emergency vehicles, more than I would expect for a single person getting hit.
this explains the massive lines at the ballston bus stops
I’ve been stuck in Rosslyn for half an hour not moving, we can’t get off the platform, and there are hundreds stuck. Do yourself a favor and don’t ride metro tonight!
I must have been on the orange line train directly behind this because I heard them making the announcements to the driver as I was in the front of the front car and realized this would be a nightmare when we pulled into Rosslyn, so i got off and just walked home. As I got to the upstairs platform at Rosslyn I heard them offload the train I was on.
Overkill. That this response for one person is really a waste of my tax dollars. I counted 40 vehicles.
I see where you are coming from, but I’m willing to bet you’d change your position slightly if it was you that got run over by a train.
No, it would not. Emergency response is appropriate. 40 emergency vehicles is not. I would add that the person hit was taken to the hospital and certainly hope she or he recovers. That the station is projected to be closed for hours following is not reasonable. Government works when government is efficient. And over-response is over-response.
Boy are you right.
Second person emerges. Not injured. Sitting up and chatting. Emergencies happen. Over response is costly.
Completely agree. Do me a favor, post a sign in your door saying if there’s a fire, you only want a guy with a bucket of water. Also, tattoo “DNR” on the roof of your mouth. Please, most importantly, make sure to leave your children, family, and self unbuckled before any car crashes. Live extractions and resuscitations are a bitch, immediate death is soooo much less expensive and quicker.
Oh, also, go down the metro, and tell them that you’ll move a train, evacuate 300 passengers, perform and investigation, do traffic control, and evaluate track integrity by your lonesome.
OH! One last night, the patient probably went to GW ER. Definitely send him a card asking for a refund.
Well said, btw your tax cost doesn’t change based on how many vehicles show up clown. You high and mighty Arlingtonians have no idea how great you have it. Do us a favor and jump in front of a train so one less cry baby is around.
You miss the point. Appropriate response is appropriate. Over response is a waste of valued resources.
Who are you to even know what level of response is appropriate?
Because you’re the resident expert on what’s an appropriate response….where did you get your training? Which one of the disaster preparedness or emergency response training courses did you attend? Emergency management course?
Seeing as they had no idea of what exactly happened initially, and how many people may have been injured, or what they needed to do for crowd control, etc., I guess they should have consulted you first to get the “appropriate” allocation of resources.
Shame on them all for not thinking about that first.
Again, you miss the point. Citizens hold government accountable. One person was hit … and appropriately evacuated. Good. The over-response remains appropriate.
You have no idea what the real incident was so you have no idea what is appropriate. Please just be quiet until the facts are out.
The official report remains intact – one person was struck. Take appropriate action.
RIght, so you’re not on the scene or in the tunnel, so I repeat you really have no idea what is going on. Thanks for proving my point.
correction, inappropriate. When you have over-response, then other emergencies may not be appropriately responded to – case in point, there is an emergency in Rosslyn; and there ya go. Citizens expect government to be ready and responsive.
Allen B – you really don’t get it. I am sorry that you live in a bubble – good government is responsive government. The ability to respond to emergencies without creating a bigger emergency is a responsibility of government. The response in Clarendon was CLEARLY over-response. My point is proved by the situation in Rosslyn which is a larger emergency – and the County had to call in the VA State Police – my guess – because they over-responded to Clarendon.
Sorry, STee, but you have no idea how much I DO NOT live in a bubble in regards to government and appropriate responses. You’re merely an armchair quarterback when it comes to these things who presents his own opinions as fact when not knowing all of the facts.
It very well may turn out to have been too many vehicles responding but you have no idea what the initial reports were, conditions in the tunnel, etc. So you’re second guessing has nothing to do with having an informed opinion.
I agree. The point at which appropriate response becomes over response is where the reaction passes the point of diminishing returns-where resulting gridlock and immobilization of trans systems more likely than not begets more injury and expense, public and private, not just inconvenience. OF COURSE authorities should err on the side of over response, and ample resources should be devoted to the unforeseen. I’m sure it’s a very sound protocol the authorities are following, but it seems that when the button is pressed, the chain of events becomes irreversible.
Well said.
How would you know what is appropriate? This could turn into a massive incident with people on trains panicking, more sick and injured and worse yet, because of the tie up of the train, that runs off of electricity, some sort of fire. So should they wait and see? Rescuing one person requires roughly 12 people, look it up. This is in a fire. Now you have a person under a train, underground. Equipment is needed, then needs to be used, manpower for both. People stuck on trains, people to help.
The key is that you are only concerned about your fifedome and have no clue as to what is done in this sort of emergency, so save us all and go back to your cubicle. Or go to a firehouse or police station and tell them how much they waste. Would love to see how you get treated probably with smiles and explanations. Or a swift kick in the….
Ouch – gosh.. hold government accountable.
All the more reason for a swiftly-deployed, diagnostic team (think SWAT or Navy SEALS), who can then call in the people and equipment necessary to respond, defuse the problem and restore order. Nothing wrong with throwing in the kitchen sink, if that’s all you know how to do. Think how you would solve the problem of a busted computer. Do you immediately call Best Buy?
My husband is stuck on the train that hit the man. There are no lights and no air conditioner on the train, and there is a small child who is freaking out. Hope he can get out soon.
Any ideas from where to where Highland is closed?
how many people are going to be struck, how many people are going to be stuck in huge crowds before this awful metro does something? Government inefficiencies are hugely depicted solely in our metro system. Its by far one of the worst systems I’ve been on.
You can in part thank the three local governments who can’t agree on a dedicated levy to support the Metro, something which happens almost anywhere else there is a large transit system. Apparently nobody wants to pony up tax money in case the neighboring state gets 12 cents more worth of service out of their dollar than they do. However you figure that, since some commuters cross MD, VA and DC in a day.
Try asking Metro officials what they suggest doing to break this stalemate, then listen to the wind in the grass. I did it at a public meeting. No one even wanted to take up the subject.
I don’t think people jumping on the tracks is something they can do much about without putting in barriers, which will be just another expense.
U all are babies. Just another day in the life of a god damn boss
Huh?
This is insane. So long to cart off ONE guy who got hit by a train? Metro needs to be replaced wholescale.
Agree! Eff this is trying to save a guy’s life is gonna delay me getting to happy hour at Whitlows. WTF! WHY AM I NOT TREATED LIKE THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE WORLD?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!
*if! See, spelling mistakes! This is the fault of public education!!!
When someone gets hit by, and trapped underneath of, a train (suffering what I’d imagine would be some pretty gruesome injuries in the process), I’m pretty sure you don’t just yank him off as though he were a piece of Velcro.
+1000
Maybe the dude was trying to commit suicide. If so, that’s no excuse for inconveniencing so many people for so long.
ahhh! Thanks to ARLnow! I caught this just before left my cube at the five sided hades. Caught ART bus 42 instead and I’m home now, chillaxing in my boxer shorts with a cool one. The only thing annoying me are all those police whistles being blow and the umpteeth siren going by.
Hope the Person is okay, but if the person was beyond the bubble tile, I have no sympathy.
WTOP says they are now single tracking between clarendon and ballston
I was on the train. It got really hot in there since they had to turn off the power. I heard that a woman jumped in front of the train and that she survived.