A Times investigation shows the serious construction flaws that led to the collapse of a Mexico City metro viaduct in May, killing 26 people. We took thousands of photographs of the crash site and shared the evidence with several leading engineers, who reached the same conclusion: The steel studs that were vital to the strength of the overpass appeared to have failed because of bad welds. Thousands of pages of internal government and corporate documents showed more than a decade of warnings and concerns about safety before the fatal crash. The disaster has spiraled into a political crisis for two of Mexico’s most prominent figures: the president’s foreign secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, who was mayor of Mexico City when the new metro line was built; and Carlos Slim, one of the world’s wealthiest businessmen, whose construction company built the portion of the line that collapsed.

Source: International New York Times June 13, 2021 10:30 UTC