2 dead in 2 train collisions in 2 days

Two train accidents just two days apart claimed the lives of two people in separate incidents.

The first train fatality happened when 28-year-old Alberto Cardenas was walking on the train tracks late Tuesday afternoon.

El Paso Police said he was struck by the train near the 7900 block of Alameda in the Lower Valley and died from his injuries. Police do not believe Cardenas was suicidal. However, they do point out a toxicology report is pending.

Javier Alcantar, a person living near the spot where the accident occurred, questions why Cardenas did not hear the train and its loud horn as it was approaching him.

A spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad tells ABC-7 the conductor of the train sounded his horn several times when he saw Cardenas on the tracks. He also said video taken from inside the train shows Cardenas was not wearing earbuds.

Alcantar lost a friend a similar way two years ago when his friend was walking on the tracks. “Nobody knows what happened in that situation. What was the reason? Was he able to hear the train? Nobody really knows about the situation,” said Cardenas.

Alcantar believes Cardenas should have at least felt the train coming because, he says, his home near the tracks trembles when the train passes by.

Right now, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a train crash involving a disabled car on the tracks at the San Elizario intersection in Clint.

Investigators say four people were inside the car. Three escaped, but 52-year-old Maria Georgina Ruiz Martinez was inside the car when the train slammed into the car. Ruiz Martinez was critically injured and later died from her injuries.

The spokesman with Union Pacific says every intersection has a sign with a toll free number.

Drivers with a disabled car can contact a dispatcher with that number to inform them of the disabled car. He says people should get out of the car, because he adds, trying to save your vehicle is not worth risking your life.

The spokesman adds the dispatcher will notify a tow truck once train traffic comes to a halt due to the emergency, so the vehicle can be removed.