A semi truck driver died after a railroad bridge collapsed after a derailed coal train Sunday afternoon in Pueblo, Colorado.
CBS News reported that the Colorado State Patrol said the driver was a 60-year-old man from California.
According to the Associated Press, Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Gayle Perez said it has yet to be determined if any other vehicles were involved in the crash.
According to CNN, none of the train crew were injured in the derailment and subsequent bridge collapse.
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On Sunday, Transport Minister Pete Buttigieg divided by X that he had been in “contact” with Governor Jared Polis and had been “questioned” by the Federal Railroad and Federal Highway Administrations about the accident. He noted that “United States Department of Transportation personnel are en route.”
Buttigieg wrote in a separate announcement: “State and local governments are leading the emergency response, and we will be ready to help in any way we can to support the rapid return to normal use of the affected highways and rail routes.”
As of Monday afternoon, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) said the nine-mile stretch of northbound Interstate 25 where the crash occurred was closed and “will be extended closed.”
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According to AP News, Perez said it will remain unclear when the stretch of freeway will be reopened until investigators examine the scene.
BNSF Railway, the Forth Worth-based operator of the coal-fired train, said its staff was helping to clean up the wreckage, CNN reports. CBS News reported that “heavy construction equipment was brought in to assist in the effort.”
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) he wrote in a post on X on Sunday to investigate the accident.
Former NTSB accident investigator Russell Quimby told AP News that the bridge most likely didn’t collapse because it wasn’t strong enough. Instead, Quimby said part of the train likely crashed into the side of the bridge, “causing the girders that hold it to move” and thus the structure to give way.
However, Quimbly also noted that investigators will look into whether foul play was involved.
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“It’s usually pretty obvious,” Quimby said. “If they found something that looked like some kind of vandalism or foul play, they would call the FBI and it would become a crime scene.”
According to AP News, it’s unclear who owns the bridge because a BNSF spokesman said the state owns it, but CDOT spokesman Bob Wilson said Monday that BNSF is the owner and therefore in charge of testing the structure.
However, the paper reported that Wilson said state officials are “reviewing their records” to determine who owns the bridge.
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Source: HIS Education