Ethanol Transport Train Derails in PA
A train derailed and burst into flames over a bridge in southwestern Pennsylvania (about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh) late last Friday, leaving fiery rail cars dangling over a river, authorities said. Witnesses reported hearing explosions and seeing flames shoot into the sky. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The eastbound, 80-car Norfolk Southern Railroad (NSC) train was carrying ethanol when it derailed above the Beaver River at about 10:50 p.m. EDT, said Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband. “There are cars on the bridge, hanging off the bridge and in the water,” said Brian Hayden, a spokesman for the Beaver County Emergency Operations Center. The cause of the derailment and its damage estimate remained unknown early Saturday. “That information, right now, we’re still investigating all that,” Husband said. The train’s midsection derailed while crossing the bridge, which is about 100 feet high and a half-mile long. Eight rail cars on the bridge were on fire, but authorities did not expect the fire to spread. “None of the cars that are on land are on fire,” Hayden said. Several homes and businesses in Beaver Falls and New Brighton were evacuated.