Collision of Two Trains at Tarasht Metro Station in Tehran; 50 Injured

Reports from Tehran indicate that a collision between two trains at the Tarasht metro station has left 50 injured. The cause of the incident has been attributed to the "failure of the control and warning system." Pirhossein Kolivand, head of the country's emergency services, stated on Tuesday, June 6, that "this afternoon at the Tarasht station, a metro train traveling from west to east collided with a stopped train." Ehsan Moghaddam, spokesperson for Tehran's fire department, also told Mehr News Agency that "the first train was stopped at the station when the second train collided with it at a very low speed, and due to the low speed, no serious incident occurred for the passengers." According to Hassan Abbasi, the public relations manager of Tehran's emergency center, 48 people were injured, with eight receiving treatment on-site and the others being transferred to hospitals. Meanwhile, the head of the emergency services reported the number of injured as 50. Following the collision of the two trains at the Tarasht metro station, two ambulance buses, 30 ambulances, and two motorcycle ambulances were dispatched to the scene. Additionally, according to ISNA, Iqbal Shakri, head of the Tehran City Council's Urban Development Committee, stated, "The control and warning system failed, and the two operators were unaware of the simultaneous movement, and the defect in the control system caused this incident." He noted that experts are examining the communications between the two train operators to determine the causes of the incident, adding, "This incident is a wake-up call regarding the heavy and continuous use of trains, as we are facing a severe shortage due to a lack of wagons and the failure to inject new wagons that the government had promised." In recent years, the governments of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani have faced criticism from the municipality and members of the Tehran City Council for not providing the necessary budget for the capital's metro. Meanwhile, Maziar Hosseini, deputy of transportation and traffic at the Tehran Municipality, in an interview with ISNA, emphasized the acceptance of responsibility for the incident by the metro operating company and apologized to Tehran citizens for the occurrence of this incident. He stated, "Despite the smart systems guiding the metro and considering the significant volume and number of daily trips, the cause of this incident must be examined in a technical and precise manner, and according to metro regulations, an accident commission has been immediately formed and is currently investigating the reasons and circumstances of the incident."