PUEBLO (AP) – A semi-trailer truck driver in the United States was killed when a train derailed and a bridge collapsed, spewing coal and mangled train cars across a highway near Pueblo, Colorado, authorities said.
The driver has died, but no further details were available, Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Gayle Perez said yesterday. No other vehicles were involved, Perez said. The National Transportation Safety Board is sending investigators to the site about 183 kilometres south of Denver.
The state patrol and Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office posted photos and videos showing a partially collapsed bridge over the interstate with the semi-truck caught beneath.
The images also show a pileup of train cars, train wheels scattered across the scene and loads of coal covering a portion of the highway. It was unclear when the bridge collapsed, state patrol spokesperson Gary Cutler said.
Officials were directing drivers to avoid the area coal and train cars were removed from the road.
A railroad bridge collapse in southern Montana in June sent railcars with oil products plunging into the Yellowstone River, spilling molten sulfur and up to 250 tonnes of hot asphalt.
