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GOODWELL, Okla. — Two engineers and a conductor are missing after two Union Pacific freight trains collided on Sunday, June 24 in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, Betsy Randolph, said that law officials were searching areas near the track hoping that the missing workers may have jumped off the train.

Three Union Pacific railroad workers went missing after a fiery head-on train crash just outside Goodwell, OK on June 24, 2012.



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According to Union Pacific Railroad spokeswoman, Raquel Espinoza, the accident occurred at about 10:08 a.m Sunday morning when an eastbound train carrying vehicles and a westbound train crashed about 2 miles from Goodwell.

Map showing location of a head-on crash between two Union Pacific trains about 2 miles east of Goodwell, OK on June 24, 2012.

A two-person crew was aboard each train, and officials were unable to account for two engineers and a conductor, Espinoza said.

The other conductor, who appeared to be uninjured, was being interviewed about what happened, she said.

“He’s shaken up about the situation, and we are working to make sure that he receives any care that he needs. We’re doing everything we can to find the rest of the crew,” Espinoza said.

Espinoza told the media that two locomotives on the 80-car westbound train and a locomotive from the 108-car eastbound train caught fire after the collision. One train was hauling a resin solution, but that load wasn’t on fire and was doused with water as a precaution, Espinoza said.

Both lanes of U.S. 54 were both closed from Guymon to Texhoma due to the fiery train collision.

Although firefighters had the blaze contained by Sunday night, it continued to burn, Randolph said.

The incident remains under investigation at this time.

Source: Yahoo News


Posted by FELA Lawyer News Blog, a FELA, train accident and railroad worker injury blog that publishes train accidents and FELA legal news from across the United States. The Federal Employers’Liability Act, (FELA) allows injured railroad workers to recover compensation based on the negligence of the railroad company, in lieu of workers’ compensation. FELA defines negligence as the railroad company’s failure to use reasonable care.

One Response to “Three Railroad Workers Missing After Two Union Pacific Trains Collide in Oklahoma”

  • FELA Law Staff:

    UPDATE JUNE 25,2012

    The United Transportation Union issued a news release Monday identifying those killed as conductor Brian L. Stone, 50, of Dalhart, Texas; engineer Dan Hall and engineer John Hall (no relation to Dan Hall). Stone had been a conductor since September 2003.

    The union identified the conductor who jumped to safety as Juan Zurita. Each train reportedly carried two crew members.

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