Third Audit Results, Deadly Metro Accident In Mexico City Due To Lack Of Maintenance

Kecelakaan Metro 12 of Mexico City, Meksiko. (Wikimedia Commons/Government of Mexico City)

JAKARTA - An auditor's third report on a deadly metro crash in Mexico City last year identified maintenance deficiencies for the first time as one of four causes of the overpass collapse, according to an unpublished version of the study seen by Reuters.

A Mexico City official familiar with the documents confirmed the authenticity of a report by Norwegian company DNV, which was made at the behest of the city government to determine the cause of the crash that killed 26 people.

It was meant to be the last of three auditors' reports since May 3, 2021, of an accident on the metro service Line 12, and it was the first to name maintenance as a primary cause, according to a Reuters review of studies published by city authorities.

Spanish newspaper El Pais published a detailed report on Monday. Reuters was unable to determine who leaked the report and for what reason.

The report identifies what it calls four "barriers" that, if any, would have prevented the flyover from collapsing. Three are related to the design, construction and process supervision of the work.

The last point deals with maintenance. In its findings, DNV said it had received "no evidence" that the necessary inspections on the metro line had been carried out.

According to the DNV report, the maintenance manual for Line 12 stipulates that structural inspections be carried out every three months, every half year and annually depending on how old the components are.

"Failure to carry out inspections of the bridge and comply with the inspection requirements of the maintenance manual was the root cause of the failure," reads the final report.

Who exactly is responsible for carrying out the inspection work "is not clearly defined," he said.

What caused the crash is politically sensitive, as the line was built when Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, was mayor there from 2006 to 2012. However, the line collapsed 2 1/2 years into the time of the current mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum.

Both are among the main contenders to become Mexico's next President when elections are held in 2024, polls show.

The report has not been published because the Sheinbaum Administration, which employs DNV, has rejected the findings, saying they are biased and methodologically flawed.

As for Mayor Sheinbaum, who entered town hall in December 2018, said at a press conference on Monday, DNV's final report had "political bias."

To support his claim, he reiterated that the firm used lawyers with prejudice against the government to help compile the report, saying DNV had leaked the findings, violating a confidentiality agreement.

City authorities previously identified the lawyer as Hector Salomon Galindo, who held a job in the previous government. He could not be reached for comment.

Furthermore, Sheinbaum also said on Monday that the maintenance of the metro line is not a problem, and that the inspection logs are public.

DNV last week in a statement defended its findings and methodology, and responded to Sheinbaum's remarks about the lawyers by saying the report was made without the involvement of anyone with a conflict of interest.

DNV did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. It also did not respond to repeated requests for comment on details of the leaked study, or why maintenance issues were not flagged in previous reports published by the city.

Sheinbaum, who last week called the report "lacking, poorly executed, technically flawed, tendentious and erroneous," said the city was in the process of terminating DNV's contract, and filing a lawsuit against the company, for deviating from the agreed methodology. in the contract.

Separately, asked for comment on the findings of the leaked report ahead of Monday's press conference, the mayor's office said the briefing would establish the city's position.

Ebrard's ministry said it had no comment on media reports. The office of his successor as mayor, Miguel Mancera, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Although the report was published this week, the copy seen by Reuters is dated October 28. Reuters could not confirm whether it was later revised.