MIDLAND, Texas — Four military veterans were killed Thursday when a freight train crashed into a parade float at an event honoring them, officials confirmed Friday morning.
Two men, Gary Stouffer, 37, and Lawrence Boivin, 47, were pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Two others, Joshua Michael, 34, and William Lubbers, 43, died later at a local hospital.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, which took place at a railroad crossing in this West Texas city about 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Officials described a chaotic scene as the first trailer in the parade passed the crossing, but the second trailer, carrying 26 people, was struck by thetrain.
The number of people injured was revised Friday, to 16 from 17. Of four people still at Midland Memorial Hospital, one was in criticalcondition and three were in stable condition, according to Marcy Madrid, a hospital spokesman. One person was transferred to a hospital in Lubbock on Thursday night in serious condition, and 11 others have been released, she said.
City leaders held a prayer vigil Friday morning to show support for the victims and their families.
At a news conference Thursday night, Mayor Wes Perry said, “This may be one of the most tragic events we’ve had in our town. It’s a sad day.”
Perry said he had met the veterans at a luncheon earlier Thursday.
“It truly was an honor to be in their presence,” he said. “These guys are true American heroes.”
The mother-in-law of one victim, Michael, said he died trying to save his wife, Daylyn.
“He pushed his wife off the float, and saved her life,” Mary Ruth Hefley, 74, said, her voice choked with emotion. “I think she was the only one on the float who was not injured. He was a hero in this Army and a hero in life, in my eyes.”
Hefley said Michael, who lived in Converse, Texas, and worked as a real estate agent, had received two Purple Hearts after serving two tours of duty in Iraq. He retired a few years ago because of medical issues; an explosion had left him with brain damage, she said.
Hefley, who lives in Amarillo, wanted to know more about what went wrong at the railroad crossing.
“Something’s not right,” she said. “If the crossing guards was working, where were they? You can’t take a semi-truck through crossing guards, not without breaking one of them off. I want answers and everybody else does, too.”
The parade, led by a local group called Show of Support, was supposed to take the veterans through the city and end with a banquet. The group provides outdoor opportunities for wounded servicemen, according to its website.
“This was part of a celebration to honor military heroes and their spouses for their service in the military,” said the Midland police chief, Price Robinson. “It’s a very tragic event that words can’t describe.”
Witnesses who were in some of the vehicles near the front of the parade said the train seemed to appear from out of nowhere.
Robert Volker was driving his red pickup near the front of the parade, his wife, Melissa, at his side. The two trailers carrying the veterans and their wives were behind them. Volker had driven over the railroad crossing when, 15 to 20 seconds later, he heard a loud boom, he said.
“We thought at first it was maybe a blown tire,” he said. “We immediately look back and just see dust.”
Amid the noise, loud music, horns and flashing lights from vehicles in the parade, Volker said, he did not even realize a train was coming on his right as he passed over the tracks. The crossing guards were up, he said.
The Union Pacific freight train was heading east toward Shreveport, according to Tom Lange, a spokesman for the railroad. A preliminary investigation by the company found that the lights and gates at the crossing were working at the time of the crash and that the train crew had properly sounded the locomotive horn, he said.
Union Pacific is investigating why the trailer was in the crossing. It plans to examine video from a camera in the locomotive’s cab, Lange said.
The train crew was not injured in the crash and will be offered counseling, he said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of anyone involved in the incident,” Lange said.
Two investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the site Thursday night and the rest of the team was expected to arrive Friday, according to Peter Knudson, a board spokesman.
Late Friday morning, outside the same downtown hotel where the parade kicked off the day before, another parade of sorts assembled. Motorcycles and vehicles prepared to escort the spouses of two veterans killed in the crash to the airport. One of the wives sat in a car in tears, touching the passenger side window as a group of motorcyclists sped by her to lead the escort.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 11/17/2012