Brandon Burgess, who was standing by the glass partition in the middle of the Red Line car mangled in yesterday's crash, gives an interesting account of what happened to the Knoxville News Sentinel (he's a former student at the University of Tennessee).

Burgess, on his way to U Street and planning to change trains at Fort Totten, describes climbing over the rubble in the smoke-filled car, seeing sky, losing his shoes, and trying to dislodge a teenager whose leg appeared to be broken. A roommate picked him up in a cab after the crash.

After all of it, Burgess says Metro's still the safest way to get around D.C. "but from now on I'll be sitting in the middle car of the train where, hopefully, this will never happen again."

WaPo's Dr. Gridlock blogged the identities of seven of the nine who died in yesterday's Red Line crash:

• Jeanice McMillan, 42, of Springfield (train operator)

• Major General David F. Wherley, Jr., former commanding general, Joint Force Headquarters, District of Columbia National Guard, and his wife Ann, both 62
• Lavonda King, 23
• Dennis Hawkins, 64
• Mary Doolittle, 59
• Anna Fernandez, 40

Per Cherkis, per WTOP, as well, with more on where they lived and one alternate spelling (Lavanda King).

Councilmember Phil Mendelson put out a statement about the Wherleys:

Read More "Seven Metro Crash Victims Identified" »

NBC 4 Washington has the live video.

Mike DeBonis is calling in from the site of the Red Line collision near the Fort Totten station.

UPDATE 6:40 p.m.:

One Red Line train had been stopped on the tracks. It had just begun to move when it was struck from behind by a speeding train.

Brenda Payton was on the speeding train. "We just felt a big crunch and saw smoke and stuff. We got off the train as fast as we could." Payton is from Fort Washington, and she was heading home. Another woman on that train, Anastasia McKeown, says that just before the impact, the ramming train slowed down. "Then we felt an impact just after that. You could tell we hit something that wasn't an animal."

Though McKeown was in the last car, she saw one of the plastic partitions in the ramming train fall on someone's head. McKeown had back and neck injuries. A triage area for victims has been set up outside Jarvoe Jarboe Printing Co. People there are mostly folks who've been injured but are not in critical condition.

As for the stopped train, here's one account of what happened. Dennis, who declined to give his last name, says his train had just barely started to move when the impact happened. Dennis stepped out of the train and could see "three or four people on the ground, all bloody." Dennis was in the fifth car, one removed from the impact. After staggering out of the train, he spotted a woman on top of that sixth car, and blood was streaming down. "The interior of that car just got crushed," said Dennis.

Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser is now being interviewed on WRC-TV about the deadly train crash on the Red Line. "We have seen the police department and the fire department respond in a very coordinated way," says the councilmember, who represents the area in which the collision occurred.

At this moment, Dr. Gridlock is in the vanguard of Washington Post coverage of this afternoon's train mishap in Northeast D.C. The item credits WJLA-TV and CNN for key facts on the accident.

Here's one commenter from the washingtonpost.com on the matter:

How is the Washington Post being scooped about a potentially serious metro rail collision? This happened about 45 minutes ago, and it's still in little print at the bottom of the Post web page. Come on guys. Surely you haven't all taken the buy out?

Comes this dispatch, via Dr. Gridlock:

A Red Line Metrorail train derailed at 5:10 p.m. approaching Fort Totten in the Shady Grove-bound side. Trains are turning back at Brookland and Takoma....Metro says that shuttle bus service has been requested to bridge the gap between Takoma and Brookland.

There are reports of injuries. Developing.

UPDATE, 5:35 P.M.: This seems quite a bit worse than a minor derailment. WJLA-TV reports:

Metro confirms two trains have collided on the Red Line between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations. It happened close to the Fort Totten station, a Metro spokesperson said.

D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Alan Etter said one train was on top of the other train.

This is "developing into a mass casualty event," Etter said. "We're expecting a number of injuries. We're not aware of any fatalities at this point."

Update, 5:46 p.m.: ABC News/News Channel 8 is reporting one fatality. Reporter Brad Bell saw the fatality being taken from the accident scene. At least nine people injured. The fatality appears to be a male. Many passengers still stuck inside metro cars. Fire Department spokesman Alan Etter confirms one dead on WTOP.

Here is the official Metro alert:

"Metro reports that 2 train collided and one train is on top of the other train.  Metro reports massive injuries at this time. The green line and the red line are affected. Further information to follow."

It looks like the accident ocurred just beyond the Fort Totten stop.

Read More "Red Line Trains Collide Near Fort Totten: Deadliest Crash In Metro History" »