4 dead, 17 hurt when train hits Texas vets parade

Updated 9:27 PM ET

DALLAS A freight train slammed into a parade float carrying wounded veterans on Thursday, killing four people and injuring 17 others as the float drove through a West Texas railroad crossing on its way to an honorary banquet, authorities said.

The eastbound train was sounding its horn before it hit the float around 4:40 p.m. in Midland, Union Pacific spokesman Tom Lange said. A preliminary investigation indicates the crossing gate and lights were working at the time, Lange said, though he didn't know if the train crew saw the float approaching.

Two people died at the scene of the crash, while two others died at Midland Memorial Hospital, City of Midland spokesman Ryan Stout said. Seven of those injured are in critical condition, while the 10 others are in stable condition, he said.

"There is going to be a very thorough investigation," Lange said. "It's obviously a very tragic incident."

Photos of the float taken during the parade show about two dozen people seated in chairs set up on the back of a flatbed tractor-trailer decorated with American flags and signs identifying each veteran. A banner across the truck's front bumper reads, "Heroes on Board."

The float was among two flat-bed trucks carrying veterans and their spouses, police said. The first truck safely crossed the railroad tracks, but the second truck's trailer was hit by the train. Police said some of the people on the second trailer were able to evacuate before the crash.

The parade was to end at a "Hunt for Heroes" banquet honoring the veterans. The wounded service members were then going to be treated to a deer-hunting trip this weekend. The events have been canceled.

Patricia Howle, a witness to the accident, said, "My daughter said, 'Momma, the train is coming!' and she was looking for it as I saw the trailer begin to cross the railroad tracks," CBS affiliate KOSA Odessa reported.

Howle added: "People were jumping off, trying to get off that trailer and the truck was still rolling. People on the trailer saw the train coming and they were flying in every direction."

Lange said Union Pacific is offering help to the community and victims' families, as well as peer-to-peer counseling for the train crew, who did not sustain any injuries.

"It's pretty traumatic for them," he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board also is investigating, NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said.

Midland is about 320 miles west of Dallas.

[dmfrm]

Tragic story but the bottom line is the trains still have the right of way.

[takacrat]

I live on this same track in Texas. I have sat on my front porch at midnight and watch trains pass without blowing there horns and going 60 to 80 MPH. This track between DFW and Abilene in the past 50+ years has train wrecks that is in the Hundreds. In Santo Tx, we have had 20++ from 1969 to now. Only one in five crossings has gates and one in five has nothing but a X-ing sign, no bells, lights nothing but a Dead Sign! I know of entire families getting Killed by Speeding Trains, then they put up Crossing lights, bells and sometimes a gate. The Football field is right next to the Tracks and at football games, we have to call a time out for the train going 50 , 60, +++!!!

[ronjula-2012]

government agencies should not be helping this incident,because it was texas voters who want to break-away from the Union of The United States. So you see what hate and ignorance get you.

[sanborl]

You being the example.

[WyoCountry]

Do agree that there has to be something done. Get rid of quiet zones. I work on the railroad. On average a train at mph takes 18 football fields to stop. 5400 feet. just over a mile to stop. There is no way to detect if something is on the tracks with the way the system works. The detection circuits work by the steel on steel contact with the wheels. From my vantage point education is one of the biggest ways to curb it as well as stiff tickets for blocking crossings or driving up on them when they are not clear. The re-designing of the streets falls on the state and local road management. Sounds like that intersection needs to be re-designed. Put in a traffic light that ties in with the crossing signal to cut traffic off. What can be done is that you can put a crossing shunt (detector) a ways out that will turn the traffic light red before the gates start coming down. that in turn would clear the intersection and crossing.

[MIO42]

I guess the real lesson here for all of us is to have more respect for
RR CROSSINGS
When we all look back at our lives most of us have known someone, friends or loved ones killed at crossing tracks
My deceased Uncle who was a conscientious RR Engineer his whole life recounted many many close calls he experienced
Heads up everyone!
RIP

[Rick_Carter1]

Parades like these are usually given a police escort to keep them safe. I wonder why this was not done here.

[Rick_Carter1]

The funerals are probably going to need police escorts.

[ScorpioJax66]

There were police escorts, but police can not stop a rain. It was mentioned in other news reports that the sirens from the escorts may have prevented people from hearing the train's horns sooner

[soniesue]

Midland is a major city, not a tiny hick town. Train tracks and trains move around all the time. Lights flash all the time and gates go up and down....Sometimes a person can't see because other trains parked on the sidings, or hear because of city traffic noise.

[ludvig1-2009]

I wonder if the driver of the float had earphones on or perhaps had some kind of seizure. I can't imagine why he wouldn't stop, or was the float so slow and so long that it got hung up while the gates were on their way down. Trains can not stop. The fault is with the float driver.

[cobalt100]

Very tragic. But on a more positive note, the deer population in Texas will likely remain unchanged.

[soniesue]

What a tacky, mean thing to say. These were people who died

[410donn]

Cobalt, one of my friends died on that float. He took wounds for this country as did others on that float. Please keep your untimely jokes to yourself. It is because of these men that you can voice your opinion, but it don't mean ya gotta.

[los3_8]

How can that reporter get any more wrong than that? "We don't know how the train didn't see them or why they didn't stop". Excuse me!!! It wasn't the train conductors fault. It's not rubber on concrete, it's steel on steel it can't stop at the drop of a dime.

It is the responsibility of the driver of a vehicle (not freight train) to stop at the crossings, regardless if the arms are not working.

Sorry that was the wrong thing to say during a broadcast.