2 freight trains collided in Colorado, damaging a bridge, spilling fuel and injuring 2 conductors

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Two freight trains collided and derailed in Boulder, Colorado, on Thursday night, damaging a bridge, spilling fuel and injuring two conductors, according to police.

The Boulder Police Department said on the social medial platform X that the crash happened north of Boulder Community Hospital.

Area roads were closed for several hours while officials conducted an investigation and fuel cleanups. Those roads have all since reopened, the department said Friday morning.

“The train itself is about a mile-long so it will take some time to clean up and move the cars,” police said on X.

Video of the aftermath showed the two train locomotives sustained severe damage and were off the rails along with several cargo cars. Heavy equipment was being used to remove the wreckage.

Kendall Sloan, a spokesperson for train operator BNSF Railway, said in an email Friday that the cause of the collision remains under investigation.

She said the crash happened at around 11:15 p.m. Thursday on tracks running near Boulder Creek.

The two crew members, who have not been named, were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and have since been released, according to Sloan.

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A “small amount” of fuel spilled from the locomotive but is not impacting the creek, she added.

“Crews are on site working to clear the incident as quickly and safely as possible,” Sloan wrote. “There is no threat to the public.”

The police department, which didn’t immediately respond to a follow-up email, said in other updates on X that a rail bridge was also destroyed in the crash, and that an area electrical line was impacted, leading to power outages affecting about a dozen customers.

The department acknowledged on X that it initially believed fuel was leaking from a train’s engine into the creek, but that it now appears the fuel was absorbed by sand that spilled out of one of the train cars.