Truck driver killed when train derails, rail bridge collapses in Colorado

DENVER — A truck driver was killed on Sunday when a train derailed in south-central Colorado, causing a railroad bridge to collapse and crush the motorist’s vehicle, authorities said.

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Lafollette Henderson, 60, of Compton, California, died when the train carrying coal fell off a bridge onto Interstate 25 just north of Pueblo, KUSA-TV reported. The crash occurred after 30 cars on the 124-car train derailed, spilling coal and debris across the highway, The Denver Post reported.

Officials with the Colorado Department of Transportation said that six or seven of the train cars landed on I-25. The train also had five locomotives, KGMH-TV reported.

The incident closed the interstate in both directions, according to the Post. Officials said the interstate cannot be reopened until investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board complete their on-site inspection, the newspaper reported.

The process could take at least several days, the NTSB said. The bridge was built in 1958, CDOT spokesperson Matt Inzeo told the Post. Inzeo said the bridge was inspected in 2022.

The CDOT said the bridge was a 188-foot-long, 14-foot-wide steel girder bridge, the newspaper reported.

No other vehicles were involved in the incident, Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Gayle Perez told The Associated Press by telephone on Monday.

Former NTSB accident investigator Russell Quimby told the AP that the most likely scenario was that the derailed cars slammed into the side of the bridge, causing the supporting girders to be displaced.

Quimby told the news organization that potential sabotage or vandalism also will be examined by investigators.

“Usually that’s pretty obvious,” Quimby told the AP. “If they find something that looks like some kind of vandalism or foul play, they would call in the FBI and it would become a crime scene.”

According to data from the Federal Railroad Administration, there have been 11 train derailments in Colorado this year, the Post reported.