Train derails near New Mexico golf course, leaving massive pile-up
A freight train derailed near a golf course in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, on Tuesday afternoon, leaving a large pile-up of carriages. Footage showed the train halted beside the course, roughly 118 miles east of Albuquerque, though the cause of the crash and whether anyone was injured have not yet been confirmed.
It is the second derailment in New Mexico within a month, following an incident on 1 August in Hidalgo County in which around 50 carriages left the tracks. Fire officials suggested that crash may have been caused by high winds and poor visibility during a dust storm, and said there was no threat to the public at the time. New Mexico State Police have yet to respond to a request for comment on the latest derailment.
- Freight train derails near golf course in Santa Rosa, New Mexico
- Cause and injuries not yet confirmed
- Second New Mexico derailment in a month, after 50 cars derailed on 1 August
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Freight trains run daily across long stretches of the United States, carrying goods rather than passengers, and derailments happen occasionally when carriages leave the tracks, sometimes causing pile-ups like this one. The location, Santa Rosa, is a small town in New Mexico, a largely rural state in the south-western US, and the derailment occurred close to a golf course there.
This is the second such incident in New Mexico in the space of a month, after around 50 carriages came off the tracks in Hidalgo County on 1 August, an event officials linked to strong winds and a dust storm. That earlier derailment raised questions about railway safety in the state, which is why a second incident so soon afterwards is drawing attention, even though the cause of this latest crash has not yet been established.