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Derailed Train Bursts Through Bridge, Killing Truck Driver

Ryan Erik King
·2 min read
Authorities investigate the aftermath of a train derailment at mile marker 106 on Northbound I-25 north of Pueblo, Colorado on October 16, 2023. The highway likely will be shut down for several days- and potentially longer- after 30 cars derailed north of Pueblo, collapsing a rail bridge over the highway highway, state and federal officials said on Monday. A truck driver was killed when the bridge collapsed above the truck.

A broken rail derailed a BNSF train hauling coal in Colorado as it passed over an interstate highway over the weekend, early investigations show.

The derailment sent 30 railcars off the tracks, collapsing the steel bridge on top of a passing tractor-trailer, crushing the cab and killing the 60-year-old driver inside. Federal investigators are now examining the fatal incident and why it happened despite the warning systems in place.

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“They will be pulling maintenance records. They’ll be interviewing people involved. They’ll be talking to the railroad. They’ll be talking to the state,” Sulick said.

BNSF has not said when it last conducted an inspection and did not immediately respond to emailed questions or requests to view its inspection records.

Former NTSB investigator Russell Quimby said an automatic warning system likely was in place in Colorado because the accident happened along one of the railway’s main routes between Denver and Texas, where BNSF is headquartered and which has numerous coal-burning power plants.