Freight Trains Collide in Texas, Triggering Fireball

June 29, 2016

Several box cars derailed and were engulfed in flames following a freight train collision in the Texas Panhandle on Tuesday.

Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Bryan Witt says the accident occurred in the morning near the town of Panhandle, about 25 miles northeast of Amarillo.

Images provided by KFDA-TV in Amarillo show thick, black smoke billowing from a jumble of some two-dozen box cars strewn along the tracks.

BNSF Railway spokesman Joe Faust says two BNSF freight trains were involved in the collision about 8:40 a.m.

Three BNSF Railway crew members have been reported missing. A fourth crew member jumped from one of the trains prior to the collision and was hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening.

Billy Brown, a farmer who lives in the area, says he saw a fireball erupt after the collision occurred.

Authorities said the trains’ diesel fuel fed the flames for hours.

Topics Texas Trucking

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