Metro Transit Police are investigating a strange incident on the Red Line this past weekend, when a canister that a rider was carrying exploded and caused some passengers to feel sick aboard a train in D.C.
An unidentified Metro passenger was carrying some sort of substance in a can when it exploded Sunday morning on a Red Line train between Dupont Circle and Farragut North.
Alex Peña was sitting right next to the rider and describes what he heard: "Almost like a soda can, like if you break open a soda can. Not the top, but if you cut into it. Like something pressurized bursting, basically."
A substance then spread through the railcar.
"And I see that he has all this reddish brown liquid on him," Peña said. "And it's sprayed all over the seat next to him, as well, that was empty. And he kind of just looks down, like, freaked out ... I very vividly only remember him saying ... 'I gotta go,' and then he just stands up and runs off the train."
Other riders wrote about the incident on Reddit, some saying they had to go to a hospital because they got sick.
Peña describes what it was like: "And I felt like a kind of peppery sensation in the back of my throat. And I was like, 'Ahh, there’s a good chance that was pepper spray or mace or something.'"
Transportation
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After the initial shock wore off that something had exploded inside the railcar, he decided it was time to get off the train.
He said Metro officials were quick to move everyone away from the railcar. He felt fine and ultimately kept riding, he said.
Metro officials are not confirming what the substance was yet, saying the investigation is ongoing. They are encouraging any rider who was affected by this to contact Metro Transit police.
Peña said he just wants some answers.
News4 will continue to press Metro officials about what exactly that substance was. We've also asked Metro for more information about the rider who had the canister, but the transit agency will only say that the investigation is ongoing.
