Union Pacific Train Derails Bridge Collapses Killing Glenview Illinois Couple

July 16th, 2012 |

NORTHBROOK, Ill. – A Union Pacific train derailed on Wednesday, July 4, killing a Glenview couple who were driving under the viaduct when the rail bridge collapsed on top of them due to the weight of the wreckage.

glenview-il-union-pacific-fatal-bridge-collapse

A Union Pacific coal train derailed on July 4, 2012 in Glenview, IL after a rail bridge collapsed, killing two people in a passenger car on the roadway below. The victims and their car were buried under a mountain of twisted metal and rubble. Initially it was thought that no one was hurt, but their bodies were discovered a day later.

Union Pacific spokesman, Mark Davis, told the media on Wednesday before it was known the couple was under the wreckage, that a freight train derailed at about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday and that there were no injuries.

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Map showing location of fatal Union Pacific derailment and bridge collapse in Glenview, IL on July 4, 2012 near the intersection of Willow Rd and Shermer Rd

It wasn’t until Thursday that the bodies of Burton and Zorine Lindner of Glenview, were discovered in the wreckage of the collapsed bridge, which fell under the weight of 28 derailed train cars.

Davis said the three-engine train was carrying coal from an eastern Wyoming mine to a utility in Wisconsin.

The incident remains under investigation at this time.