Passenger Suing After Being Stuck In Smoke-Filled D.C. Subway
WASHINGTON (WJZ)—They could barley see or breathe, but now passengers aboard a D.C. Metro subway that filled with smoke on Monday are speaking and suing.
Alex Demetrick has more on the suit and the first release of a timeline by rescuers responding to the emergency.
When smoke filled a D.C. Metro subway tunnel on Monday a train was stranded inside. Dozens were trapped as minutes ticket by without help or escape.
"That's when it turned frightening and then you had a lot of passengers crying, cursing at the staff. Some were praying loudly," said Malbert Rich, a passenger on the train.
And for many of those trapped, it took a long time to get out of the station and make it to medical care.
"Those people should not have been trapped like rats in a subway car filling with smoke for 40 to 45 minutes," said Kim Brooks, Rich's lawyer.
When help arrived, it came heavy. But a timeline for a woman who died in the accident showed a first call at 3:18 p.m. At 4:09 p.m., 24 minutes later, CPR is started. At 4:25 p.m., more than an hour after the first call, the woman is taken by ambulance to the hospital.
"I even texted my mother and two children my final message to them. Telling them I love you and go on because we didn't see any way out," said Rich.
Rich was hospitalized and now he's the first to bring a lawsuit his lawyer says.
"Is going to allege negligent maintenance, negligent inspection and a negligent response to an emergent situation," said Brooks.
It's not known how many others will also turn to the courts, but one thing Malbert Rich says, none of the passengers ever turned on each other.
"It was a story of human kindness. Human will be the better part of us," Rich says.
The first lawsuit will be filed tomorrow.
Investigators know the smoke was generated by arcing electricity along the subway tracks.
What caused that to happen is still not known.
Read More: 1 Dead, Dozens Taken To Hospitals After Smoke Empties D.C. Metro Station
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