Toronto Accident Still Unexplained

TORONTO — Police and transit officials Saturday could not explain the failure of redundant, automated safety systems to prevent the fatal crash of two subway trains here Friday night.

Three passengers died and 36 people were treated for injuries after one train smashed into the rear of another that had stopped between stations, authorities said. Five people remained hospitalized Saturday, four in critical condition.

One woman died in the crumpled train car minutes after having one leg amputated by surgeons desperate to extricate her from the wreckage, officials said.

The drivers of both trains escaped with relatively minor injuries and were being questioned by investigators, a police spokesman said.

Arnold Dube, acting general manager of the Toronto Transit System, told reporters that two sets of warning lights should have alerted the driver of the second train that he was approaching the stopped train.

Although an automated braking system is primed to engage when a train enters such a red zone, it can be overridden by the operator, who is supposed to get permission by radio from a supervisor.