BELEN, N.M. — Two freight trains collided in the desert Friday as one tried to cross to another set of tracks, injuring four men and derailing 17 cars and locomotives.
The cause was under investigation, but railway officials did not suspect sabotage. The FBI is assisting in the investigation.
"It is probably some type of mechanical failure or human error," said Linda Gustis, a spokeswoman at Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. "Trains have black boxes like airliners do. . . . Those will be analyzed to see what happened."
On Monday, Amtrak's Sunset Limited passenger train derailed near Hyder, Ariz., killing one person and injuring 78. Authorities blame sabotage for that derailment.
The train that was hit Friday had 11 loaded freight cars and 59 empty cars, Gustis said. The other train had five locomotives and 65 trailers or container cars.
