Boston trolley crash sends 16 passengers to hospitals

BOSTON — Sixteen people were hospitalized Friday after two trolleys collided on above-ground tracks in Boston.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said the accident in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood was under investigation but that the cold weather gripping the region had been ruled out as a cause.

An inbound trolley made contact with the back of the other trolley about 3:15 p.m. between two stops on the Mattapan line, said Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the transportation authority.

Boston Emergency Medical Services said on Twitter that it evaluated 17 people at the scene and transported 16 to hospitals.

Authorities said none of the injuries was considered serious. All but one of the injured passengers were able to walk on their own from the train to ambulances that took them to hospitals for further evaluation, a Fire Department spokesman said.

“It was just a big jolt,” passenger Regine Jean-Michel, 24, told the Boston Herald. “The best way to describe it is if someone is going down a roller coaster and there’s that sudden drop, just horizontally.”

Several riders were thrown to the floor of the trolley, she said.

Antonio Rodriguez, 18, told The Boston Globe that he struck his head on a seat as a result of the impact and saw another man bleeding from a head injury.

The investigation will include inspections of the equipment and interviews with the trolley operators, Pesaturo said.

The frigid weather had been blamed for breakdowns and delays earlier Friday on some of the transit system’s other trolley and commuter rail lines.