SAN ANTONIO, Tex. (AP) -- A grieving family wants to know why it took authorities hours to reach loved ones after a train collision caused the release of poisonous gas.
Wayne Hale, 67, and his wife, Mary, 65, began calling 911 from their home about 6 a.m., said their son, Roy Hale.
But as the Hales called, they didn't know Wayne Hale's mother, Gene Hale, 85, and her daughter, Lois Koerber, 59, were dead inside another home just across a field about 100 feet from the railroad tracks.
Autopsies performed Tuesday confirmed train conductor Heath Pape, 23, Gene Hale and Koerber all died from inhalation of chlorine gas. Wayne and Mary Hale remained in critical but stable condition at University Hospital on Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Pape was aboard a Union Pacific freight train that ran into a freight train operated by Burlington Northern Santa Fe in a rural area southwest of San Antonio.
``When I talked to my dad at 10 (a.m.), he said he had been calling to get someone out there for four hours,'' Roy Hale said in Wednesday's editions of the San Antonio Express-News. ``We were all on the phone calling everyone we could think of and they kept saying, 'We know about it and we're doing the best we can.'
It took rescue workers nearly seven hours to reach the stranded family members.
Authorities said the rough terrain and the proximity to the zone where a large amount of chlorine gas was released made it difficult for rescue officials to approach the Hales' property.
The wreckage also blocked the only land route, further complicating efforts.
Rescuers in haz-mat suits and oxygen masks would've had to walk too far and wouldn't have had a sufficient supply of oxygen to carry out a rescue, Bexar County Fire Marshal Carl Mixon said.
San Antonio AirLife helicopters also were unable to immediately land in the vicinity because it was in the middle of the hot zone, which extended about 200 yards from the wreck, Mixon said.
Officials also said leaving the Hales in their home was the safest course of action.
``A house is a safe environment for many hours,'' Mixon said.
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