Federal investigators believe a broken rail caused Sunday’s fatal train derailment and subsequent bridge collapse north of Pueblo, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.
Its preliminary assessment found that the derailment preceded the bridge’s collapse, the agency said, a day into federal investigators’ inquiry into what caused a derailment that killed a truck driver, spilled debris across Interstate 25 and closed the highway for the foreseeable future.
The broken rail was just east of the bridge over I-25, the NTSB said.
“Investigators will continue to determine the cause of the broken rail and why warnings systems did not alert the crews to the condition of the track as part of the ongoing investigation,” NTSB spokeswoman Sarah Taylor Sulick wrote in an email.
The update comes as state officials are still determining who has responsibility for the bridge that collapsed.
BSNF Railway, which operated the train and owned the line upon which it ran, said the bridge was owned by the state. The Colorado Department of Transportation initially said the bridge was owned by the railway, but a spokesman said Monday that the agency was digging back through its records to determine who has ultimate responsibility for the 65-year-old structure.
On Monday, the Federal Railroad Administration said BNSF owns the line affected by Sunday’s crash. The railroad did not return an email Tuesday seeking comment about the NTSB’s initial findings. NTSB also did not return a follow-up email seeking more information about who was responsible for maintaining the rail.
NTSB’s investigation may last up to two years, though an initial report is expected to be released within a month.
Debris cannot be fully cleared from the interstate until federal investigators complete their on-site work, which may take several days. Debris cleanup may take another two days after that, Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement Monday.
The Pueblo County Coroner’s Office on Monday identified the truck driver killed in the train crash as Lafollette Henderson, 60, of Compton, California.
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