Daughter of semi driver killed in Colorado train derailment remembers father: "freak accident"

The daughter of the semi truck driver killed in the coal train derailment near Pueblo on Sunday is talking about her father's life. The deadly train derailment near Pueblo had shut down both directions of I-25 for a few days with southbound lanes reopening on Wednesday afternoon. 

The NTSB said a broken track east of the bridge over the interstate caused the derailment, sending 30 rail cars filled with coal onto the interstate. 

Lafollette Henderson, 60, of Compton, California, died when the semi he was driving was under the bridge that collapsed when a BNSF Railway coal train derailed on Sunday as it was passing over I-25 a few miles north of Pueblo.  

Henderson's daughter said driving the semi was a job he loved and he always had a positive outlook. 

"This is just such a freak accident, I'm still trying to process what is really going on," said Henderson's daughter Triana James. "The security, the knowing that you can call him... I'm telling you, if you were having a bad day, and just like 'Dad, I'm going to do something bad'... And he'd be like 'Look, it's going to be OK." 

I-25 had been closed in both directions since the derailment and detours were in place. The Colorado Department of Transportation is working to re-open northbound I-25 no later than Thursday evening and may open a single lane prior to re-opening the entire road. 

Drivers traveling through that area should expect a rough driving surface because the damaged roadway will be milled and there will be slightly reduced speed limits temporarily through the stretch for safety.  

Repairs to the bridge will take longer partly because there is confusion over which entity owns the bridge. BNSF Railway said the state has ownership. CDOT said they have conflicting records on the 65-year-old bridge.