The New York Times newspaper published this Sunday a report on Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro and the possible causes that caused the tragedy last May.
The outlet explains that it obtained “thousands of photographs of the site of the accident and shared the evidence with several expert engineers who came to the same conclusion: the metal bolts that were crucial to the solidity of the viaduct (and that are the basis of the entire structure) appear to have failed due to poor welding, a serious failure that probably caused the crash.
“That’s one of the main explanations handled by Mexico City officials, according to several people with knowledge of the official investigations into the disaster. Explanation that highlights a pattern of political opportunism and neglected works during the construction of the subway, “says the media.
The investigation also indicates that the media has in its possession the draft of the expert report carried out by the authorities of Mexico City, that is why in the text “Why line 12 of the Mexico City Metro collapsed”, Marcelo Ebrard, then head of government of Mexico City, is indicated as allegedly responsible, and that, the text indicates, he asked to accelerate the work so that it would be completed as soon as possible, and the businessman Carlos Slim, as owner of Grupo Carso, the company that was in charge of the construction of the section that collapsed.
The report includes a graphic animation that exhibits the fault that caused the collapse and in a simple way realizes that the welds were badly made.
The authors of the report also disclosed that another indication of poor construction was that during the installation several of the ceramic rings that go around the metal bolts were not removed, according to the images obtained by the medium, that is why “the welds gave of themselves and the bolts were released from the steel”.
Journalists investigating the case consulted numerous engineering experts, as well as “thousands of pages” of internal documents related to the Metro transportation system and noted that federal auditors found that Mexico City authorities “authorized poor quality work.”
After the publication of the text, the Head of Government of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, explained on her Twitter account: “Regarding the article that appears in the NYT today on line 12 and the claim that some have made that the information came from the city government, I clarify categorically that we have never used journalistic leaks to inform or do our work and less to a media that has sought to confront the Fourth Transformation.”
(1) On the nyt article today on line 12 and the claim that some have made that the information came from the City government, I categorically clarify that we have never used journalistic leaks to report or do our job.
— Claudia Sheinbaum (@Claudiashein) June 13, 2021
He added: “We have been very responsible in waiting for the technical, professional opinions. It’s not our style to filter information and never will be. We are characterized by telling the truth directly without any intermediaries.
“For us the most important thing is to attend in a comprehensive way to the victims as we have been doing and to know the causes in a professional way to attend as soon as possible the arrangement of line 12. The sanctions are the responsibility of other bodies. Should we ask ourselves what unclarated interests are behind this article?” he concluded.
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