Two train cars derailed in El Paso, Texas, killing conductor Mario Aurelio Navarro and hitting a gas line, which forced the evacuation of local residents.
Track work had been being done Monday and a derailment device had been placed to protect workers from oncoming trains, which would be directed elsewhere.
But the device wasn’t removed when required and train traffic could resume, according to the El Paso Police Department.
“At the time of the crash, the train engineer was given clearance to proceed, however the derailment device had not been removed. As the conductor was guiding the engineer into the rail yard the derailment device effected the derailment and the conductor was hit by the train car after it flipped onto its side,” the department said in a statement.
The derailed Union Pacific cars also struck a backyard shed, a fence and a gas meter. The damaged gas line was shut down and 50 local residents were temporarily evacuated.
Residents were shaken, especially given that the last home on the block is only 100 feet from the railroad tracks.
“I’ve lived here my whole life and nothing like that has ever happened down here at the dead end, it’s a surprise to me,” an unnamed resident told KFOX, the El Paso Fox TV affiliate.
The two train cars that derailed were not carrying any passengers.
“The incident was reported at around 9:18 p.m. MT. The train cars that derailed were carrying wheat grain, they were not passenger cars,” El Paso Fire Department spokesperson Enrique Dueñas-Aguilar told Fox News Digital.
Union Pacific spokesperson Robynn Tysver said in a statement to Trains magazine that the company is “deeply saddened that a Union Pacific employee lost his life … after two train cars derailed in the Alfalfa Rail Yard.”
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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