Metro (WMATA)

Metro Settles With Family of Woman Killed in L'Enfant Plaza Smoke Incident

What to Know

  • Carol Inman Glover, 61, died after the tunnel at the L'Enfant Plaza station with thick, black smoke in January 2015.
  • Glover's adult sons filed a $50 million lawsuit against Metro alleging negligence leading directly to their mother's death.
  • Metro confirms they reached a settlement with the family. The terms are sealed from the public.

Metro reached a settlement with the family of the woman killed in the 2015 L'Enfant Plaza smoke incident.

Metro spokesman Dan Stessel confirmed the settlement Thursday. The terms of the settlement are sealed from the public.

Carol Inman Glover, 61, of Alexandria, Virginia, died after an electrical malfunction filled the busy L'Enfant Plaza station with thick, black smoke and left many riders stranded on a train stopped in a tunnel the afternoon of Jan. 12, 2015. The train stopped about 800 feet beyond the platform due to electrical arcing from the high-voltage third rail about 1,000 feet beyond the train.

Passengers said they were ordered to stay on the train. Some took their lives in their hands and evacuated on their own.

Glover's adult sons filed a $50 million lawsuit against Metro alleging negligence leading directly to their mother's death. It said she was trapped on the smoke-filled train for 45 minutes before rescuers arrived. At that point, the lawsuit said, she had no pulse.

An investigation found Glover died of acute respiratory failure due to smoke exposure.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in 2016 the problems leading to the fatality were caused by senior management's failure to proactively deal with "foreseeable safety risks."

Glover was a mother of two and grandmother of three. She was a graduate of Eastern High School in D.C. and of Drexel University in Philadelphia.

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