Train derailment collapses Colorado bridge, killing truck driver

DENVER — A truck driver was killed when a train derailed near Pueblo, Colorado, and caused a railroad bridge to collapse onto a major highway — crushing the semitruck, spilling coal and mangled rail cars across the roadway and shutting down traffic indefinitely, authorities said Monday. The 60-year-old driver was initially said to be trapped in the Sunday afternoon accident on Interstate 25, but authorities said Monday that he had died. The partially collapsed bridge could be seen Monday afternoon with the semitruck caught beneath it in the northbound right lane. Derailed train cars were piled up on the bridge and along the tracks to the northeast and large amounts of coal covered a portion of the highway. A nine-mile (14-kilometer) stretch of I-25 — the main north-south road corridor in Colorado, used by 39,000 to 44,000 vehicles daily — was shut down in what the Colorado Department of Transportation said Monday would be an extended closure. The bridge partially collapsed when the train hauling 124 cars of coal derailed at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday just as the semitrailer truck passed beneath it, the National Transportation Safety Board said. Thirty cars derailed, the agency said. Investigators from the NTSB arrived Monday at the site, just north of Pueblo and about 114 miles (183 kilometers) south of Denver. They will determine the cause after looking at the adequacy of prior track inspections, the condition and maintenance history of the bridge and any issues with the train or rail cars, the agency said in a statement. A preliminary report will be released in 30 days. It was not immediately known whether any other vehicles were involved, Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Gayle Perez said. It could take as long as 48 hours to clear the coal and other debris and make the highway passable, Gov. Jared Polis said. That work won’t begin until federal investigators give the state clearance to proceed, Polis said. He added that Colorado had been waiting months to receive federal money already dedicated for safety and rail projects. “Those improvements come too late to prevent this incident,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “I am saddened that a life was lost in this train derailment and send my condolences to his family and loved ones.” The bridge was built in 1958, Colorado Transportation Department spokesperson Bob Wilson said. Former NTSB accident investigator Russell Quimby said the most Read more at: inquirer

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