By Randy Appleton, Railroad Accident Injury/FELA Lawyer

A Burlington Northern Santa Fe train derailed over Rice Creek between East River Road and University Ave in Fridley, Minnesota (MN). A total of 17 cars and 2 locomotives went off the rails in the July 16, 2011, wreck, which occurred when the train crossed a bridge and hit a washed-out road where heavy rain had swept away the track’s foundation, according to kstp.com.

The engineer and conductor who were on the train suffered injuries and were taken to a local hospital. The extent of their injuries remains unknown. Given the extensive damage caused by the derailment, it would not be surprising if one, or both, of the railroad workers suffered serious injuries like broken bones, lacerations, a head injury or strained and torn back muscles.

BNSF will likely point to the bad weather as the culprit to this major train derailment, but it makes you wonder why the track’s foundation was so susceptible to heavy rain.

Our firm is familiar with the damage train derailments can cause. In 2000, we secured a then-historic jury verdict for a gas station clerk who suffered a mild traumatic brain injury after a Norfolk Southern train derailed.

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About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is an injury law firm whose attorneys have long histories of representing railroad workers in FELA and other railroad injury cases.  Attorneys will our firm have served as chairmen of the Railroad section of the American Association for Justice. One of our attorneys wrote a major attorney’s encyclopedia section on railroad safety litigation. Check out our railroad injury case results to see for yourself. Our offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia (VA), and Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC). Our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC, and have handled hundreds of railroad injury and FELA cases throughout the eastern United States. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, such as Dos and Don’ts When Injured at a Railroad — Yours FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Won’t Tell You (But You Must Know). We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042 before giving any statement or talking to a railroad claims agent. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly moderate the Yardlimits Railroad Community Forum and donate to the Fallen Brother Fund.