Evacuations have been ordered early Thursday morning in southwest Minnesota after a prepare carrying ethanol and corn syrup derailed, catching hearth, authorities mentioned.
A BNSF freight prepare derailed close to Raymond, about 100 miles west of Minneapolis, round 1 a.m. Roughly 22 vehicles got here off the tracks and 4 caught hearth, the corporate mentioned in an announcement.
“There are not any different hazardous supplies on the prepare and no accidents because of the incident,” mentioned Lena Kent, BNSF’s basic director of public affairs. The reason for the derailment was not instantly clear and is below investigation, she mentioned.
Evacuations have been ordered inside half a mile of the crash web site, the Kandiyohi County sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
“Residents have been instructed to depart their properties and an emergency assortment web site for these with nowhere to go was established,” the sheriff’s division mentioned in a statement.
Aerial footage of the scene confirmed an enormous pileup of burning and smoldering prepare vehicles alongside the snow-covered tracks.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) mentioned he was touring to the crash web site after talking with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who in his own statement mentioned that federal authorities could be concerned within the investigation. This consists of the Nationwide Transportation Security Board, which mentioned it was sending a staff to the positioning.
“The state stands prepared to guard the well being and security of the group,” mentioned Walz in a statement posted to Twitter.
Prepare derailments have been within the nationwide highlight ever since last month’s fiery derailment in Ohio. That prepare was carrying hazardous chemical compounds, and the accident prompted an evacuation of the native space.
There are about 1,000 prepare derailments within the U.S. annually, based on information from the Federal Railroad Administration. BNSF, which runs a median of 1,200 trains per day according to its website, reported 279 derailments final yr.
