A fatal BNSF train crash that collapsed a bridge onto Interstate 25 in southern Colorado was hauling coal from the Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming.
The 60-year-old driver of a semitrailer was killed when the fully loaded train likely hit a broken track about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, derailing many of its nearly 125 cars and spilling hundreds of tons of coal north of Pueblo, National Transportation Safety Board inspectors at the site report. The derailment caused a bridge over I-25 to collapse onto the semi.
The agency also reports it's investigating why the rail broke and why warning systems in place to detect failures like broken rails didn’t alert. Nobody on the train was hurt.
Cowboy State Daily has confirmed the train was loaded with PRB coal, but from which Wyoming mines and where the train was headed wasn't known. BNSF didn't respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
After being shut down in both directions Monday and Tuesday, the Colorado Highway Patrol reports the southbound lanes reopened Wednesday afternoon. The interstate should be fully reopened to south- and northbound traffic by Thursday afternoon.
Olivia Prentzel with the Colorado Sun reports that NTSB investigators have been on the scene since shortly after the crash and its report on the derailment is expected in about 30 days.
