Smoke at Washington DC Metrorail tunnel kills one woman

TIN news:        A woman has died and at least two have been critically injured after smoke filled a Virginia-bound subway train on the Washington DC Metro, the second busiest mass transit system in the US.
 
A total of 84 people have been taken to hospital after the incident, which occurred 240m south of the Washington Metro's L'Enfant Plaza station, Reuters reported.
 
Metro and hospital officials said that the hospitalised passengers were suffering from smoke inhalation.
 
Passengers on the train were self-evacuated and many of the Metro lines were temporarily closed following the incident.
"The preliminary reason of the smoke was high-voltage electrical arcing that occurred about 335m ahead of the train."
 
Passenger Adjoa Adofo was quoted by The Washington Post as saying: "People were panicking. We didn't know what to do and we weren't getting a lot of information."
 
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has announced an investigation into this incident.
 
According to NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson, the preliminary reason of the smoke was high-voltage electrical arcing that occurred about 335m ahead of the train.
 
The Washington Metro system, which also operates in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs, serves a population of five million.
 
Five subway lines, including the Orange, Blue, Silver, Green and Yellow, pass through the L'Enfant Plaza station.
 
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority chairman Tom Downs has apologised to customers for the incident.
 
Meanwhile, NTSB has issued a 'Most Wanted List for 2015' urging for safety improvements in ten areas of rail transport.