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Emergency medical crews and firefighters comb through wreckage looking for survivors after collapse of overpass in Mexico City.
At least 20 people have been killed and dozens injured in Mexico City when an overpass carrying metro train cars partially collapsed on to a road below, according to authorities.
Rescue efforts for potential survivors were paused on Monday night at the overpass of the metro’s 12 line shortly after the accident, authorities said, citing the risk that more of the overpass and train cars could slam down onto the road.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said a crane was being transported to the site to stabilise the train carriages so rescuers could resume their work.
Sheinbaum said seven of the people transported to hospital were in a “grave condition” and undergoing surgery. She had previously said a total of around 70 people had been injured.
Wearing a hard hat and face mask to speak to reporters at the accident site, Sheinbaum said it appeared a girder had given way on the overpass but the cause was being investigated.
A rescue worker carries an injured person on a stretcher after a structure of the Collective Transportation System (METRO) collapsed along with two wagons in Mexico City [Carlos Ramirez/EPA]Grim footage
A video on local channel Milenio TV showed the structure plummeting onto a stream of cars near Olivos station in the southeast of the city at around 10.30pm local time (03:30 GMT on Tuesday), sending up clouds of dust and rubble.
Other images showed at least two train carriages precariously hanging from the damaged overpass as emergency fire and medical crews initially used ladders to access the carriages.
The metro’s 12 line was built when Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard was the mayor of Mexico City.
“What happened today with the Metro is a terrible tragedy. My solidarity with the victims and their families,” Ebrard said on Twitter.
“Of course, the causes must be investigated and responsibilities defined. I reiterate I am at the disposal of authorities to help in whatever is necessary.”
Ebrard and Sheinbaum are seen by many political observers as the most likely successors to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador once his six-year term is over in 2024.
Rescuers workers at a site where an overpass for a metro partially collapsed at Olivos station in Mexico City [Luis Cortes/Reuters]