1 Dead, 84 hospitalized after DC Metro was engulfed in a mysterious black smoke

     Thick, heavy smoke from an unknown source engulfed Washington DC Metro L’Enfant Plaza Station earlier today, killing one woman, sending 84 to the hospital (with two in critical condition), leaving 200 more to be emergency evacuated and crippling the train lines for hours.

     One person has died and 84 people have been hospitalized after smoke engulfed a train carriage and a station platform during a suspected fire on the Washington D.C. Metro.Around 200 people were evacuated from L’Enfant Plaza at 3:20pm on Monday after the thick cloud of smoke arrived, leaving hundreds of commuters in need of medical attention.A female passenger riding on a train which stopped short of the platform was taken to hospital after paramedics arrived on the scene and found no pulse, according to WTOP radio. She later died. Two others are said to be in a critical condition at George Washington Hospital.

     Earlier the Washington Post reported that 40 of the injured were transported by bus to Howard University Hospital, and between 20 and 25 people were taken to Washington Hospital Center.Panicked commuters described how they lay on the floor of a pitch-black train for 40 minutes in a bid get away from the smoke while announcers told them to ‘stay calm’. Those who caught up in the smoke were seen walking away from the station with black soot under their noses.There were huge delays on the capital’s Metro system as a result with a number of lines stopping services or diverting journeys as the smoke was ventilated out of the surrounding tunnels.Thus far, the cause of this smoke is still unknown — some passengers even report not being entirely sure what the black substance filling the train car actually was. Hopefully those hospitalized will recover soon.

Via DailyMail: