FELA Lawyer News Blog

MIDLAND, Texas — A Union Pacific train crashed into a parade float carrying wounded veterans and their families killing four servicemen two of whom saved their wives by pushing them to safety before they died.

Four veterans were killed in a horrific train accident in Midland, TX on November 16, 2012 when a float they were riding in was hit by a Union Pacific freight train while the float was crossing the tracks during a parade.

The horror unfolded around 4:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Nov 15, as two flatbed trucks carrying the veterans crossed railroad tracks in an industrial part of Midland where the veterans were on their way to an annual ‘Hunt for Heros’ banquet.

Midland Police told the media that 37-year old Army SGM Gary Stouffer and 47-year-old Army SGM Lawrence Boivin were pronounced dead at the scene while 34-year old Army SGT Joshua Michael and 43-year-old Army SGM William Lubbers were transported from the scene, but later were pronounced dead at Midland Memorial Hospital.

Witnesses told ABC News that the impact was deafening as the Union Pacific train plowed into the parade float and police said that while some people were able to jump from the float before the crash, many victims who were on the back of the flatbed truck were in wheelchairs and could not escape.

Map showing location at the S Garfield rail crossing in Midland, TX where a Union Pacific freight train plowed into a float carrying wounded veterans who were crossing the tracks on a float in a parade on November 16, 2012.

Seventeen people in all were transported to the hospital and 10 were treated and released. Four people were in stable condition and one is in critical condition as of this morning.

“I just saw people going under the train. There was blood. There was blood all over,” said eyewitness Eservando Wisler.

A Union Pacific spokesman Tom Lange said it appeared safety devices at the crash site were working. But there were conflicting reports by eyewitnesses about whether the gates went down at the crossing when the train approached.

“I saw the truck crossing the tracks. About halfway across the gates started coming down. The truck tried to blow his horn to get the other people in front of him out of the way. The gates actually hit the first people on the trailer,” witness Michael Briggs said.

“Our preliminary findings indicate that the lights and gates were working at the time of the incident and that our train crew sounded the locomotive horn,” said Lange.

The incident remain under investigation at this time.

Posted by Gordon &amp Elias, a FELA lawyer and Texas railroad injury lawyer who publishes train accidents and FELA legal news from across the United States.

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