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From UTU Site UTU member killed in Texas crash SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- An engineer was killed when two freight trains collided in a rural area, and authorities were investigating whether the crash -- which sent a cloud of toxic fumes into the sky -- had anything to do with the deaths of two women nearby, according to the Associated Press. Heath Pape, 23, of San Antonio, and a member of UTU Local 756, died in the collision, which derailed 40 cars. Six people had to be airlifted from the scene. The San Antonio Express-News reported that two of the injured were hospitalized in critical condition. Members of UTU's Transportation Safety Team have joined investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board at the scene to assist in determining the cause. About 50 people were hospitalized Monday after being exposed to chlorine gas and ammonium nitrate from leaking rail cars. The gas clouds dissipated by late morning, after drifting up to 10 miles to San Antonio's SeaWorld amusement park, where six people were treated for minor respiratory irritation. Bexar County Medical Examiner investigators were trying to determine whether the deaths of an elderly woman and her daughter were linked to the collision. The bodies of the women were found about a mile from the crash site by search and rescue crews in hazardous material gear, who went door to door after the crash. The women were identified by medical examiner's investigator James Akers as Gene Hale, 85, and her 59-year-old daughter Lois Koerber. It was unclear how the women died. "We're not necessarily making any association between this and the derailment," San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Randy Jenkins said. The collision occurred when a Union Pacific freight train struck a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train, said Joe Faust, a spokesman for Fort Worth-based Burlington. Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley said his company's train was traveling at about 20 mph at the time. He said 23 of the 74 Union Pacific cars derailed. Seventeen Burlington Northern cars derailed. No evacuations were ordered, but two heavily traveled roads were closed. (This item was distributed June 29, 2004, by The Associated Press. Additional material was added by UTU editors.) June 29, 2004
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