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Train derails into river after rockslide in western Colorado

The train derailed in Mesa County at about 11 p.m. Tuesday, Union Pacific officials said

Lauren Penington of Denver Post portrait in Denver on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
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A train derailed in western Colorado on Tuesday, crashing into the Gunnison River south of Grand Junction, investigators said.

The Union Pacific Railroad freight train ran into a rockslide near Whitewhiter, about 10 miles southeast of Grand Junction, at about 11 p.m. Tuesday, company spokesperson Mike Jaixen said.

Five rail cars hauling coal and two locomotive engines derailed into the river, and some fuel leaked, Jaixen said.

The crash trapped two Union Pacific crew members inside the cab, who were later rescued by Grand Junction and Mesa County first responders, Federal Railroad Administration spokesperson Warren Flatau said. Jaixen said the crew members were not injured.

Flatau said the federal agency is not investigating the crash , but Union Pacific will be to submit a report on the derailment to the agency within 30 days.

The incident remains under investigation, Jaixen said.

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