Attorney
Updating a blog post we brought you last week, a preliminary report has been released by D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s office about the L’Enfant Plaza smoke incident.
According to the report, firefighters in the tunnel near the plaza “could not clearly communicate by radio with commanders outside because signal-boosting equipment wasn’t working properly.”
To review the report, you can click here. The equipment that malfunctioned was reportedly maintained by Metro, and fire officials alerted the transit agency to the problem before the incident took place, according to the Washington Post.
Metro officials declined to comment on the report, according to the paper. There is an ongoing investigation into the incident being performed by the National Transportation Safety Board. A preliminary investigation revealed that the smoke was caused by a severe electrical malfunction.
The incident took place on January 12, sending dozens of people to the hospital with injuries and resulting in the death of one person. Some safety experts have voiced concerns about smoke and fire incidents involving Metro tunnels. According to the Post, there were 171 fire and smoke incidents in the Metrorail system during 2013 and over the course of the first eight months of 2014.
Some witness accounts into the incident have said that the tunnel fans were not working properly or were incorrectly blowing smoke in one direction.
Should I Speak to an Attorney If Have Been Injured in a Metro Accident like the L’Enfant Plaza Incident?
Remember, if you are ever involved in a public transportation accident and you have suffered injuries, you should speak to an attorney as quickly as possible after seeking medical attention, as you could be entitled to compensation. You should also record all of the details surrounding your accident, which could prove useful in a potential lawsuit. Some of the videos provided by victims in this particular incident will probably prove useful in court.
For more information about public transportation mishaps, continue to follow our blog. Our attorneys assist injury victims in Fairfax County, Prince William County, Loudoun County and Arlington County.
We will continue to update this story as more information is released.
Koonz, McKenney, Johnson & DePaolis L.L.P.
Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia Injury Attorneys
Sponsored by: Attorney William P. Lightfoot
Video Link: http://youtu.be/77BCDbBGA2U