Metro is arguing it is not responsible for the death of a rider in 2015 because it doesn’t owe it to passengers to rescue them in the case of an emergency.
According to WTOP, Metro filed a motion in court Monday to dismiss all the lawsuits against the agency for the death of Carol Glover in January 2015 due to smoke inhalation in L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station.
The blame should be on the District of Columbia government, Metro argued, not the agency itself.
The agency denies it “owes a duty to WMATA’s passengers to assist, rescue and/or evacuate passengers on Metrorail trains in the event of a fire-emergency situation.”
Instead, the blame should go on the D.C. Fire Department, which the agency argues “ignored” its responsibilities to rescue riders on the day Glover died.
According to the report, a fire department battalion chief rolled up the window of his vehicle in the face of a Metro police officer while a Yellow Line train was stranded in the station. The smoke built in the tunnel while passengers were stuck on the train for as long as 45 minutes.
“As a result of D.C. (Fire’s) utter disregard for its duties in responding to such emergencies, Metrorail passengers experienced injuries that were more severe than they otherwise would have been and the event ended in tragedy,” Metro argued.
