Two Union Pacific employees were killed and three people were injured when a freight train collided with a tractor-trailer and derailed in a small West Texas city, authorities said Thursday.
The train derailed around 5 p.m. Wednesday in Pecos after the collision at a railway crossing, authorities said. Union Pacific, based in Omaha, Nebraska, said Thursday that two employees had been killed. Pecos Police Chief Lisa Tarango said the other injuries were minor.
Although hazardous materials were being carried aboard the train, none were released in the derailment, city officials said. The hazardous materials included lithium ion batteries and air bags.
Leaked diesel fuel was contained, officials said.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to investigate. It said in a statement Thursday that it doesn't determine or speculate about the cause during the on-scene phase of the investigation.
Ronald Lee, emergency services chief for Reeves County, said that some of those injured were in the Chamber of Commerce building, which was damaged in the derailment. He said damage to the Chamber of Commerce was “significant enough” that officials advised against entering the building until an engineer could inspect it.
Railroad safety has been in the spotlight ever since a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in early 2023, spilling a cocktail of toxic chemicals and catching fire. Regulators urged the industry to improve safety and members of Congress proposed a package of reforms, but railroads haven’t made many major changes to their operations and the bill has stalled.
Eddie Hall, national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union that represents engineers, said in a statement that the derailment is “a reminder that much more needs to be done to make railroading safer.”
The derailment, he said, “should serve as a wake-up call to legislators to improve rail safety."
Images from the site of the crash in Pecos show that the train was hauling metal shipping containers that were stacked two high.
Pecos, which has a population of about 13,000, is located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) east of El Paso.
Tarango said the cleanup was underway.
Damage to a train is seen at the site where a freight train collided with a tractor-trailer and derailed in Reeves County, Texas on Wednesday, 18, 2024. (Daniel Alvarado/Reeves County, Texas via AP)
ZÜRICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 20, 2024--
Bruker announces the acceptance of a 1.2 GHz Ascend™ Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer at the Swiss High-field NMR Facility, operated jointly by the University of Basel, ETH Zürich, and the University of Zürich. This state-of-the-art instrument will significantly enhance the research capabilities of several user groups, enabling advanced studies in structural biology and macromolecular analysis. The instrument, located at the University of Zürich, is the second 1.2 GHz NMR in Switzerland, with the first at ETH used for developing solid-state NMR techniques, and studying materials and biological systems.
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The Swiss High-field NMR Facility has locations at Biozentrum Basel and at University of Zürich. The new 1.2 GHz NMR complements the existing 800 MHz NMR in Basel and other high-field NMRs for protein structure determination, measurement of protein dynamics, ligand binding studies, conformational fingerprinting, and the analysis of protein-protein interactions.
Professor Oliver Zerbe from University of Zürich stated: "The 1.2 GHz NMR enables the study G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in greater detail to define dynamic behavior and conduct drug binding studies. The higher resolution and dispersion at 1.2 GHz enhance the study of interactions of drug candidates with GPCRs. Professor Ricarda Törner, who will join UZH in 2025, will greatly benefit from increased resolution in her studies of intrinsically disordered proteins. Similarly, Professor Sigel's group anticipates significant advantages for their RNA research."
Stephan Grzesiek, Professor of Structural Biology at Biozentrum Basel, who started the initiative for a Swiss high-field solution NMR, remarked: “Finally, we also have a highest-field NMR available for Swiss solution NMR. It will enable new NMR methods and explore the limits of detection in disease-relevant applications, such as GPCR signaling and cancer.”
His colleague, Professor Sebastian Hiller from Biozentrum Basel noted: "The 1.2 GHz NMR allows to study structures and dynamics of chaperone-client complexes at atomic resolution. These detailed descriptions will reveal biophysical laws governing chaperone function, with implications for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s."
Detlef Günther, Professor for Trace Element and Micro Analysis, and Vice President of Research at ETH Zürich (2015-2022) when the instrument was ordered, remarked: "We are excited to provide our scientists with this ultra-high field NMR. This collaboration will enable groundbreaking research in structural biology, furthering our understanding of complex biological systems.”
About Bruker Corporation – Leader of the Post-Genomic Era (Nasdaq: BRKR)
Bruker is enabling scientists and engineers to make breakthrough post-genomic discoveries and develop new applications that improve the quality of human life. Bruker’s high performance scientific instruments and high value analytical and diagnostic solutions enable scientists to explore life and materials at molecular, cellular, and microscopic levels. In close cooperation with our customers, Bruker is enabling innovation, improved productivity, and customer success in post-genomic life science molecular and cell biology research, in applied and biopharma applications, in microscopy and nanoanalysis, as well as in industrial and cleantech research, and next-gen semiconductor metrology in support of AI. Bruker offers differentiated, high-value life science and diagnostics systems and solutions in preclinical imaging, clinical phenomics research, proteomics and multiomics, spatial and single-cell biology, functional structural and condensate biology, as well as in clinical microbiology and molecular diagnostics. For more information, please visit www.bruker.com.
New 1.2 GHz Avance® at UZH site of the Swiss High-Field NMR Facility (Photo: Business Wire)
