Adrian Hedden
El Rito Media
achedden@currentargus.com

Officials in Pecos, Texas, confirmed last Thursday that two people were killed when a train derailed on U.S. Highway 285 near the town’s downtown area Wednesday night.

The train, owned by Union Pacific, left the tracks and crashed into the Pecos Chamber of Commerce building after colliding with a tractor-trailer near Oak and Dot Stafford streets at about 5 p.m.

Two male employees of Union Pacific who were on the train at the time of the incident suffered fatal injuries, officials said. One man was initially reported dead at the scene and the other succumbed to his injuries later Wednesday night.

Three Chamber of Commerce employees suffered minor injuries and were released from medical care as of Thursday morning, officials said.

Pecos and Reeves County officials held a press conference at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday to update the public on the investigation.

Pecos City Manager Charles Lino said a car on the train held hazardous materials – lithium-ion batteries and car airbags – but said the cargo posed no risk to the public.

“Our emergency services division have everything contained,” Lino said during the press conference. “Things are a lot better today than they were last night. We have had communications with several businesses in that area. We have many roads blocked off.”

The area is a hub of oil and gas industry traffic on U.S. 285, about an hour’s drive south of the New Mexico-Texas border in the heart of the Permian Basin oilfields. Lino said detours for industrial traffic were being designated and asked motorists to avoid the area.

“Please be patient,” he said. “We have a lot people that travel the area. Try to stay away from the area. It will be open for business as soon as we can.”

Pecos Police Chief Lisa Tarango declined to release the names of the men who were killed and said officials were working to notify next of kin.

“We initially were given that there was one fatality and three injured. It’s now confirmed that there are two fatalities,” she said.

Tarango said clean-up is underway at the accident scene.

Ronald Lee, the town’s emergency services chief, said damage to the chamber of commerce building was “significant” and that workers were advised not to enter the building.