Mexico City prosecutors said they would bring criminal charges against “several people and businesses” after a subway line collapsed and 26 people died in May.
Ernestina Godoy, the city’s attorney general, said the purpose of the charges was to seek compensation for damages suffered by both the victims and the subway, according to The Associated Press. She did not specifically identify who would face the charges that could result in jail time.
Godoy also said a review found poor design, poor welds and missing studs were among the construction flaws that contributed to the collapse, according to the AP.
Some of the companies that helped build the line also added that repairs over the years could have made the elevated line too heavy. Prosecutors added that the city’s frequent earthquakes could also have contributed to the damage, the AP noted. The collapsed section has not reopened since May.
Norway’s private certification company DNV found similar results to Godoy’s report when it published a report on the incident in September.
The collapsed line of the city’s subway system cost $1.3 billion to build between 2010 and 2012. Despite the high price of the project, the line was closed in 2014 for track repairs amid defects of design and other allegations of corruption.
Allegations of poor design and construction problems first emerged shortly after Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who was mayor of Mexico City when the metro was built, left the mayor’s office in 2012 .
Ebrard is now seen as a possible candidate to succeed Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
