Train hits trailer carrying wounded veterans in Texas parade; 4 dead

[jimmy olsen]

Damn...you make it through Iraq or Afghanistan and then that happens.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/15/15198158-train-hits-trailer-carrying-wounded-veterans-in-texas-parade-4-dead?lite

Train hits trailer carrying wounded veterans in Texas parade; 4 dead

By NBC News staff

Updated at 9:21 p.m. ET: A train crashed into a tractor-trailer carrying wounded veterans and their spouses in a parade in Midland, Texas, killing at least four people, authorities told NBC News.

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At least 17 people were hospitalized, city officials said.

NBC station KWES of Midland said the tractor-trailer was part of the Show of Support / Hunt for Heroes parade carrying veterans and their spouses to a banquet in their honor. The benefit dinner was being put on by Show of Support, Military Hunt Inc. in Midland on Thursday night, according to the organization's website.
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Midland police spokesman Ryan Stout said the crash occurred at 4:36 p.m. local time when an eastbound train hit the flatbed trailer. He said the flatbed was the last of two in the parade attempting to cross the tracks.

"It's hard to look at. It's a very tragic event, very unfortunate," Midland Police Chief Price Robinson told Reuters.

The parade and banquet were to precede a whitetail deer-hunting trip for the veterans, according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram. Show of Support president and founder Terry Johnson told the KEWS that the events were canceled.

According the website, the organization demonstrates support for members of the military and seeks to bring public awareness of hunting and fishing.

There have been 477 railway-related fatalities between January and August of this year, according to federal railroad safety data. Of those, 93 were related to Union Pacific Railroad, which covers 23 states across the western United States.

In a statement, Union Pacific spokesman Tom Lange said the crossing has a gate and lights.

According to Lange: "Our preliminary investigation indicates that the lights and gates were operating at the time. Additionally our two person crew sounded the locomotive horn."

Lange said the two-person Union Pacific crew was uninjured.

The National Transportation Safety Board tells NBC that a team has been sent to investigate the accident.

[Liep]

That's harsh.

[Josquius]

Trains are un-American!

[Martinus]

Alanis should sing about it.

[CountDeMoney]

There have been 477 railway-related fatalities between January and August of this year, according to federal railroad safety data. Of those, 93 were related to Union Pacific Railroad, which covers 23 states across the western United States.

In a statement, Union Pacific spokesman Tom Lange said the crossing has a gate and lights.

According to Lange: "Our preliminary investigation indicates that the lights and gates were operating at the time. Additionally our two person crew sounded the locomotive horn."

Trains always win.

[Liep]

Trains always win.

Sometimes it's a tie. We lost a colleague to a truck some years ago.

[jimmy olsen]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/16/15219024-wounded-vet-dies-saving-wife-on-parade-float-in-texas-train-accident?lite

One of the veterans killed when a train crashed into a parade float in Texas on Thursday is being hailed as a "hero" for saving his wife just moments before he lost his own life.

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Joshua Michael, a 34-year-old Army staff sergeant and recipient of two Purple Heart decorations, pushed his wife, Daylyn, off the trailer just before the train hit, according to a family friend. At least 17 people were injured, one critically, and four were killed as a result of the accident, Midland city officials said.

[OttoVonBismarck]

When I first heard I figured "man, how dumb does the driver on the parade have to be to run into a train." But if the eyewitness testimony is accurate (a huge if) it sounds like the flatbed rolled on the tracks and then the gates came down basically as the flatbed was crossing...the people on the truck that had already went over the tracks said they didn't see the warning lights come on until right as the gates went down. Then right after the gates went down the train rolled through.

The timing of that, if accurate, would indicate a pretty serious fuckup on the part of the railroad. There is supposed to be a decent interval between warning lights flashing and the gates dropping, then an interval between the gate dropping and the train actually arriving.

[Fate]

I saw a few of these guys in the Midland operating room. What a crazy day to be on call.

[Martinus]

When I first heard I figured "man, how dumb does the driver on the parade have to be to run into a train." But if the eyewitness testimony is accurate (a huge if) it sounds like the flatbed rolled on the tracks and then the gates came down basically as the flatbed was crossing...the people on the truck that had already went over the tracks said they didn't see the warning lights come on until right as the gates went down. Then right after the gates went down the train rolled through.

The timing of that, if accurate, would indicate a pretty serious fuckup on the part of the railroad. There is supposed to be a decent interval between warning lights flashing and the gates dropping, then an interval between the gate dropping and the train actually arriving.

Dude, it's Texas. They are not very smart down there.

[Martinus]