here is the story
Three die after freight trains collide in Texas
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – At least three people died after a westbound Union Pacific freight train struck an eastbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train Monday at 5 a.m. while the BNSF train was entering a passing siding near Macdona, Texas, 14 miles southwest of San Antonio on UP’s “Sunset Route” main line, according to BNSF spokesman Joe Faust.
The incident ruptured at least four cars loaded with chlorine gas and anhydrous ammonia in the UP train, spreading a hazardous gas cloud into the air, according to Associated Press. The engineer of the UP freight died, as did two elderly women in a nearby residence. More than a dozen people were sent to nearby hospitals with respiratory problems. Six more people in an amusement park 10 miles away were also treated. Nearby roads were closed, but no evacuations were ordered. An investigation is underway to determine if the two non-railroad deaths were related to the spilled hazardous material.
The BNSF mixed freight, bound from Eagle Pass, Texas, on the Mexican border to Tulsa Okla., and operating by trackage rights on UP’s Del Rio Subdivision with 123 cars, was 3200 feet into the siding when it was struck by the UP train, bound from Houston, Texas, to Turlock, Calif., at an estimated 20 mph. Four locomotives and 19 cars on the UP train derailed, and 17 cars of the BNSF train derailed.
The incident impacted Amtrak’s triweekly “Sunset Limited,” trains 1 and 2, between Orlando, Fla., and Los Angeles, which uses the route. The westbound Sunset of the 27th (out of Orlando) was terminated in San Antonio Tuesday morning and reversed to depart as eastbound train 2 a few hours later; westbound train 1 out of Orlando today was annulled.
Eastward, train 2 of the 27th (out of L.A.) was halted at El Paso Monday afternoon and reversed to become train 1 Tuesday afternoon for L.A. Passengers were bused between El Paso and San Antonio.
The National Transportation Safety Board in Washington sent an investigating team to the site. UP on Tuesday was uncertain when the route would reopen.
sorry bout that guys