PUEBLO, Colo. — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report Thursday morning on October's fatal train derailment near Pueblo.
On Oct. 15, a BNSF coal train was traveling south on the Pikes Peak Subdivision in Pueblo West, according to the report. The NTSB's preliminary investigation said the train derailed because of a broken rail.
The derailment happened near a track switch east of a railroad bridge that went over Interstate 25, the report said. Derailed train cars struck the bridge, causing six cars to fall onto the interstate, according to the NTSB.
One or more train cars hit a semi-truck that was traveling north on I-25, according to the report. The driver of the truck, Lafollette Henderson, was killed in the crash.
The maximum speed authorized in the area where the train derailed is 45 mph, according to the report. The train was going about 32 mph at the time of the crash, the NTSB said.
The train had two locomotives at the front, three distributed power units and 124 hopper cars loaded with coal, the NTSB said. The crew of the train consisted of a conductor and an engineer, according to the report. Neither crew member of the train was injured in the crash, the NTSB said in the report.
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