15 train cars derail in Sweetwater

SWEETWATER, Texas — Around 5:30 on Monday afternoon, 15 train cars tipped over, spilling hundreds of tons of concrete mix on to 3rd Street, just west of downtown Sweetwater.

"The engineer said they heard a pop and looked back and one of the cars fell over and then the other cars just started falling over with it," said Sweetwater Fire Department Fire Chief Grant Madden.

Madden said that nobody was hurt in the incident and added that it had been several years since anything similar had happened in Sweetwater.

"This is not normal," Madden said.

Neighbors who live near where the train derailed said that they are stunned to see that it happened in their very own backyards.

"This is the way I come and go most of the time," said Irene Montemayor, a Sweetwater resident.

KTXS called BNSF, the company who runs the rail line, on Tuesday, who said that they are looking into what caused the derailment.

Madden said that the train, which typically runs two to three times per day, moves slowly, which is why he does not believe that speed was a factor in the incident.

"There’s no skid marks where the cars were sliding," Madden said. "It just literally fell over."

Cranes are expected to get the cars upright again.

Neighbors said that they are ready to see the train cars back on track.

"I wish they would hurry up and get it cleaned up," said Mike Acuna, a Sweetwater resident.

Crews that KTXS spoke to said that there is still not an estimate as to when the train wreck would be cleaned up.