(The Associated Press circulated the following article on November 27.)
SEATTLE — John Gahagan was riding the monorail with his family when the sliding door was ripped off of their car, breaking a window and showering his two children with glass.
The train had clipped the monorail’s only other train on a curve Saturday evening, forcing the evacuation of 84 passengers from the mile-long, 43-year-old elevated line between downtown and the Seattle Center.
Gahagan’s children, ages 15 and 11, were unscathed by the glass, but officials said two other people were hospitalized with minor injuries.
”We heard a screeching sound — metal on metal — and glass breaking,” said Gahagan, 50, of Mukilteo, Wash. Several people slid off their seats.
But he said the crash ”wasn’t real violent,” saying ”the scariest thing was coming down the ladder.”
Several blocks of Fifth Avenue were closed after the accident, said Helen Fitzpatrick, fire department spokeswoman.
The crash occurred above the route of Sunday’s Seattle Marathon, but did not affect the course. Some 15,000 runners hit the streets as planned, said police Officer Rich Pruitt.
The Police Department will investigate the crash, Pruitt said. The National Transportation Safety Board would also likely investigate, he said.
The monorail was built for the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962 and has been popular with tourists, drawing as many as 23,000 riders a day. But a years-long fight to expand the system was soundly rejected by voters this month.
The line was shut down for more than six months last year after a smoky fire stranded about 100 riders. No one was seriously hurt.