Show Notes
On June 28, 2004, two freight trains collided outside San Antonio, rupturing a tank car carrying roughly ninety tons of liquid chlorine. Just a hundred feet away, Wayne and Mary Hale woke to a toxic cloud spreading through their home. They called 911, followed the instructions they were given, and waited for help. But a locked gate, an emergency perimeter, confusion between responding agencies, and well-intentioned advice would leave the family trapped for more than six hours. By the time hazmat crews reached them, two members of the Hale family were dead.
Tonight, we explore the Macdona train disaster—and the chain of decisions that turned a railroad collision into a deadly chemical emergency.
More from Haunted American History
In February 1927, William Fuld fell to his death from the roof of his factory in Baltimore.
In the winter of 1590, an elderly Scottish healer named Agnes Sampson was brought before King James VI of Scotland.
In 1967, the RMS Queen Mary arrived in Long Beach, California, after more than three decades crossing the Atlantic.
In Savannah, Georgia, ghost stories are everywhere.
On November 13, 1974, a young man ran into a bar in Amityville, New York, shouting that his parents had been shot.