(The following article by James Pinkerton was posted on the Houston Chronicle website on August 12.)
LUCIO BLANCO, MEXICO — A tank truck laden with liquefied propane was hit by a freight train Thursday afternoon and exploded in the center of this agricultural town, killing at least two and injuring 44 residents who sprinted for safety as roaring flames shot down the main street.
More than a dozen homes and businesses, along with 17 cars, were destroyed, police said.
“It looks like a war zone, doesn’t it?” said Joseph Horn, deputy chief of the Brownsville Fire Department, as he directed a pair of firetrucks sent to help control the fire.
As darkness fell, the tops of the power poles in the town were still burning, along with trees and sections of several roofs, as firefighters were using the available water to dilute the spilled propane.
Rolando Garcia Conte, director of civil protection in nearby Matamoros, said the two people confirmed dead were the engineer of the train and the truck driver.
“There were a lot of people burned here, some seriously, some with minor burns,” he said.
“I was told there were three more (victims) they are going to bring out,” Horn said.
The majority of the injured were taken to Mexican hospitals while two American citizens were taken to the Harlingen Medical Center.
Witnesses and local police said the driver of a tandem tanker truck attempted to beat a freight train at a crossing next to a gas station shortly after 3 p.m.
“This happened, unfortunately, because the truck was trying to beat the train across the crossing,” said Matamoros Police Commander Crecensio Esquivel.
City officials identified the tanker as belonging to a Monterrey firm, Techno Gas.
“Really, the explosion was very strong,” said Ezequiel Fuentes, a 40-year-old resident whose masonry home two blocks from the crossing was destroyed by flames.
“I was inside when I heard the sound of the train hitting the truck, and I went out and was walking to the crossing when there was an explosion, and then came huge flames,” Fuentes said. “We turned around and ran away.
“I thank God that nothing happened to us,” he said, referring to his wife, 6-month-old son and mother, who were in the home when the tanker exploded.
At the crossing, one of the charred propane tanks could be seen lying alongside a freight car, while the truck cab was on the other side of the tracks. The second propane tank was thrown hundreds of yards into the air, hit a house and landed on top of a car, witnesses said.
The explosion and resulting fires destroyed a two-story seed store next to the crossing, along with four other businesses down the same side of the street. Across the street, all the homes and businesses for two blocks were destroyed.
“I came here to get my (car) windows tinted at this shop, and I was standing here when the guy said, ‘We’ve had it,”‘ said Armando Perez, 25, who lives in nearby Valle Hermoso.
Perez, whose arm was bandaged from burns he suffered, said he was standing outside the small automotive shop next to the railroad tracks when he saw the tanker truck driving over the rail crossing. He turned and saw the freight train hit the truck between the tanks, and was knocked to the ground by the explosion.
“When it happened, I was thrown down, and then I ran over there (down a side street) to get away,” said Perez.
His charred 1987 Ford pickup, which contained all his documents and his wallet, lay a few feet from the propane tank.
Firetrucks and emergency vehicles from Brownsville, Harlingen, San Benito, Los Fresnos and eight water tankers from Cameron County helped Mexican units battle the blaze.