(The Associated Press circulated the following article on October 17.)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A Union Pacific freight train derailed near downtown San Antonio on Tuesday, damaging two houses but causing no injuries, officials said.
The 106-car train was carrying paper products and auto parts when 17 cars left the track, Union Pacific spokesman Joe Arbona said. He said no hazardous materials were aboard.
Arbona said no official cause of the accident had been determined and that Union Pacific would investigate.
No one was in the two damaged houses when the train derailed, said Fire Chief Robert Ojeda.
”We dodged a pretty big bullet on this one,” he said.
Several streets were closed, and a shelter was being set up for displaced residents.
”To me it was going too fast,” said Richard Salinas, 53, who was sitting on his back porch drinking coffee when the train derailed. He said trains come through the area every 30-40 minutes.
Arbona said an event recorder on the train, which was heading south to Laredo, showed it was traveling at 21 mph, four under the speed limit, when it derailed just before 11 a.m.