Missouri Overpass Collapses After Two Freight Trains Collide


A Missouri overpass collapsed early Saturday morning after two freight trains collided and derailed. The massive collision triggered the collapse, and seven people were injured during the devastating accident.

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter told KFVS-TV that a Union Pacific train T-boned a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train at a railroad intersection near Chafee, Mo., though no cars were on the overpass during the collision.

Two cars came up to the bridge after it went down and got stuck in the remains after crashing, according to Trooper Clark Parrott of the Missouri Highway Patrol. The incident occurred around 2:30 a.m., and the collision led the trains into a pillar that caused the bridge to go down.

Of the seven injured, two were locomotive engineers on the Union Pacific train while the other five people came from the two vehicles that crashed after the trains wrecked.

Six of the seven victims have since been released from the hospital, though one still remains hospitalized for treatment and is considered in good condition.

The Missouri overpass collapse comes just as two other similar incidents occurred in the past two weeks. Two days ago, a part of the Interstate 5 bridge in Washington collapsed during a truck accident.

A little more than a week ago, a commuter train in Bridgeport, Connecticut derailed which stopped service. Now authorities have another devastating accident in Missouri, and clean up is still underway while they search for the cause behind the train crash.

Wayne Woods, a local to the area, spoke with KFVS-TV and revealed that he heard the trains collide and promptly called 911.

“When I got over there the train was on its side,” Woods told KFVS-TV. “They got the guys out and lifted them off the train, and got them off the overpass. One was kind of bloody; the other one looked like he was pretty shook up.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is now in place to investigate the matter in hopes of preventing, if at all possible, another train wreck in the future. The concerns are felt around the United States, and multiple incidents in a matter of two weeks will have that sort of affect.

Do you believe devastating accidents like the Missouri overpass collapse early Saturday can be avoided?

[Image via Creative Commons]

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