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Barge collides with Pelican Island Causeway in Texas, causing damage and oil spill
A barge has collided with the Pelican Island Causeway in Galveston, Texas, damaging the bridge, closing the roadway to all vehicular traffic and causing an oil spill.
The collision occurred at around 10 a.m. local time. Galveston officials said in a news release that there had been no reported injuries. Video footage obtained by CBS affiliate KHOU appears to show that part of the train trestle that runs along the bridge has collapsed. The barge, which the Galveston Office of Emergency Management said on social media is owned by Martin Petroleum, remains at the site of the collision.
Emergency management officials and state officials have responded to the scene, along with members of the Galveston police and fire departments, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Texas Department of Transportation.
KHOU
The collision caused an oil spill in the bay, officials said in the news release. The U.S. Coast Guard is responding to the spill, and will determine its extent and initiate “containment and cleanup processes,” officials said. The Galveston Office of Emergency Management said that vacuum gas oil, which can be used to make transportation fuels and other by-products, had been visually confirmed in the water and said that about six and a half miles of intracoastal waterway had been closed.
The barge has a capacity of about 30,000 gallons, officials said. The amount that has leaked out is unknown.
The collision also led to a brief power outage on Pelican Island, Galveston officials said on social media. Secondary power has been restored, officials said.
The bridge connects Pelican Island, a community of about 9,000 people, to Galveston, Texas. Pelican Island is also home to Texas A&M University at Galveston.
Officials said that engineers from the Texas Department of Transportation will “inspect the roadway and determine if there is damage.” The bridge will remain closed until it is deemed safe to use.
The incident comes almost seven weeks after a vessel rammed into the Key Bridge in the Port of Baltimore, killing six construction workers.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
A teacher and student killed in a shooting earlier this week at a school in Madison, Wisconsin, were identified Wednesday by authorities.
The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a news release provided to CBS News that 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara were fatally shot Monday morning at Abundant Life Christian School.
Preliminary examinations determined the two died of “homicidal firearm related trauma.” Both were pronounced dead at the scene, the medical examiner said.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
The medical examiner also confirmed that a preliminary autopsy found that the suspected shooter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow — a student at the same school — was pronounced dead at a local hospital Monday of “firearm related trauma.” Madison Chief of Police Shon F. Barnes had previously told reporters that Rupnow was pronounced dead while being transported to a hospital.
Police had also previously stated that she was believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The shooting at the private Christian K-12 school was reported just before 11 a.m. Monday. In addition to the two people killed and the shooter, six others were wounded.
Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
A handgun was recovered after the shooting, Barnes said, but it was unclear where the gun came from or how many shots were fired. A law enforcement source said the weapon used in the shooting appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
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