Texas train collision triggers fireball; no word on injuries

The extent of the hospitalized person’s injures are unknown.

Joe Faust, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, said that two of its mixed-freight trains were involved in the accident at 8:40 a.m.in Panhandle, Texas.

BNSF and other freight carriers have pledged to meet a 2018 federal deadline to adopt the technology, called positive train control or PTC.

It’s unclear what freight the trains were carrying.

Federal Railroad Administration investigators are on site of the head-on collision and are reporting injuries, agency spokesman Matthew Lehner said.

Faust did not know how fast the trains were traveling at the time of the collision. “It’s awful. I’ve seen a number of train wrecks but I’ve never seen one like this”. DPS Sgt. Dan Buesing said the fire was still burning Tuesday afternoon. At least three freight railroads have said they’ll need an extension to 2020.

According to KFDA, at least one person was taken to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo with non-life threatening injuries.

Faust said four employees were involved in the crash.

Concern over the fire spreading quickly across grass led to the eastern side of Panhandle being evacuated, WFAA said.

According to the CBS affiliate in Amarillo, News Channel 10, city officials were asking drivers to avoid the area while first responders worked the scene and continued rescue efforts. Two locomotives and 11 cars from the train derailed when it met head-on with a Union Pacific train.