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The death toll in Monday evening's Metro train crash rose to nine Tuesday morning, as rescue workers continued searching the wreckage for bodies and investigators worked to determine the cause of the crash.

Cathy Asato, a spokeswoman for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, confirmed nine dead, including a female Metro train operator, and 76 hospitalized, some with critical injuries, after a train headed for the Shady Grove station in Rockville slammed into the rear of another train about 5 p.m. Monday on a single Red Line track between Takoma and Fort Totten stations in Washington, D.C.

WMATA released names of five of the deceased. They are Mary Doolittle, 59, of Northwest Washington, D.C.; Ana Fernandez, 40, of Hyattsville, Md.; Dennis Hawkins, 64, of Southeast Washington, D.C.; Lavanda King, 23, of Northeast Washington, D.C.; Jeanice McMillan, train operator, 42, of Springfield, Va.

Metro and National Transportation Safety Board officials are investigating the cause of the crash, which WMATA officials are calling the deadliest in Metro's 33-year history.

Red Line and commuter rail service Tuesday morning was severely impacted, with some stations closed and long delays predicted as officials continued their investigation. Metro advised commuters to avoid the Red Line. Bus service was available to shuttle commuters between stations.

District Heights resident Denise Winston-Dowdle, a passenger on the train that got hit, described a jarring collision. She was returning home on the Red Line when the crash occurred. She said her train was stopped behind another train near the Fort Totten station.

"Then all of a sudden we felt a big jolt," she said at the Takoma Metro station. She said the train "went over the top" of her train and split in half.

Winston-Dowdle said Metro Police began moving injured commuters from the rear of her train into her car before all riders were escorted off the train.

The District opened a call line — 202-727-9099 — for families and concerned citizens.

Red Line commuters can expect delays throughout the day on Tuesday, and they were being asked to make alternate plans if possible, said WMATA spokeswoman Angela Gates.

Still, Metro has a number of trains operating from Glenmont to Silver Spring and then from Shady Grove to Rhode Island Avenue. Trains are running about eight to 10 minutes apart.

"We've been telling people to add up to an hour to their trips if they're going to be traveling on the Red Line," Gates said.

The Brookland and Takoma stations are closed, and the Fort Totten station is open only to Green Line travelers.

Metro is making shuttle buses available to get riders through the affected area, but the buses can only carry up to 50 people at a time.

As for when the closed stretch of tracks might reopen, Gates said it's not likely to occur Tuesday.

"It depends on the crews that are out there clearing the track," she said. "The NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] is conducting the investigation, and it won't be until they have cleared the area that we can open that back up."

On Monday evening, area hospitals were monitoring the situation and bracing to receive injured passengers.

Just after 6 p.m., Howard University Hospital's emergency room staff was "getting all of the rooms ready," said an ER staff member. As the closest hospital to the incident, Howard staff had been notified that they would be the receiving hospital for the injured passengers.

Other area hospitals were on alert in anticipation of receiving injured passengers.

Washington Hospital Center had been asked if whether medical staff could receive any causalities, but the hospital had not been notified about actually receiving any of the passengers, said hospital spokeswoman Michelle Allen.

At 6:15 p.m., Washington Adventist Hospital spokeswoman Lydia Parris said the Takoma Park hospital had not received word that it would be receiving casualties from the derailment, but that officials were monitoring the situation.

Similar monitoring was occurring at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, where staff members were watching the incident unfold. The hospital had not received word that any injured passengers would be delivered there, said Holy Cross spokeswoman Yolanda Gaskins.

Capt. Oscar Garcia, a spokesman for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, said about 10 units from Montgomery County, including an engine and ambulance from Takoma Park, have been sent to the District to assist as backup for calls while D.C. fire and rescue respond.

"There's a good chance there were serious injuries," he said.

The collision snarled rail traffic in the area, according to reports from Metro, MARC and Takoma Park Police.

The MARC Brunswick line was suspended indefinitely Monday night, although the Camden and Penn lines were running.

Takoma Park Police reported several road closures in the area as a result of the crash: New Hampshire Avenue north and south bound, North Capitol Street in both directions, Eastern Avenue N.W. in both directions, South Dakota Avenue North bound closed, Nicholson Street N.E. closed.

CSX Police has advised that the CSX trains have been shut down in both directions near the incident, according to Takoma Park Police. CSX shares the tracks with Metro.

By 6:30 p.m., traffic to the Shady Grove Metro station in Gaithersburg had backed up to Shady Grove Road.

"It was chaos here," said Terry Herndon, 70, of Laytonsville. "People were yelling and blowing their horn. I was afraid there was going to be a fistfight. It was absolute gridlock."

Herndon was at the station waiting to pick up a friend.

Inez Lopez, 20, a summer intern living in Gaithersburg, said he boarded the train at Farragut North at 5:07 p.m. and arrived at Shady Grove at 6:20 p.m.

"At every stop, there were delays," said his friend Isaac Dominguez, 21, another intern. His parents called from Puerto Rico to see if he was all right.

John Brake of Takoma Park had been at the Takoma Metro since 5:30 p.m., after hearing about the crash on the news.

"Since I've been here, it's just been buses shuttling people back and forth, moving people as best as they can," he said.

Staff Writers Janel Davis, Robert Dongu, Fred Lewis, Patricia Murret, Jeremy Arias and Clyde Ford contributed to this report.

• Washington Post coverage: Death Toll Rises in Red Line Crash
• Washington Post coverage: Experts Suspect Failure Of Signal System, Operator Error
• Washington Post's continuing commuter coverage

Correction: This story incorrectly spelled the name of a WMATA spokeswoman as Kathy Asato. Her name is Cathy Asato. Also, the death toll was updated to 9 at noon. Names of five of the deceased were added at 4 p.m.