Metro Hits Passenger; D.C. Struggles With Crowds

The throngs of citizens hoping to attend the Inauguration have placed even more stress on metropolitan Washington, after a Metro passenger was struck by a train and entrances to the National Mall were closed in part.

A passenger at the Gallery Place/Chinatown metro was struck by a train just before 9:30 a.m., the Washington Area Metro Transit Authority (WMATA) said Tuesday morning. Police are on scene investigating, though there was no immediate indication as to the health of the passenger.

Passengers already struggling with crowds should expect “major delays,” and the major downtown station Metro Center has been shut down, WMATA said.

Crowds have also posed problems for emergency vehicles, which have had trouble navigating downtown.

A crowd of several thousand people at the security checkpoint at the intersection of 12th and E Streets caused delays for EMS workers responding to a call inside the security gate.

Three D.C. fire department medics with a gurney took roughly 10 minutes to push through the thickest part of the crowd before getting through.