Freight train slams into garbage truck
Source: Agencies |
May 30, 2013, Thursday
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A FREIGHT train carrying chemicals collided with a garbage truck, derailed and exploded at a rail crossing outside Baltimore, seriously injuring the truck driver and causing fires that were under control by yesterday morning, US authorities said.
In the third serious derailment in the US this month, a dozen or so rail cars - at least one carrying hazardous materials - went off the tracks on Tuesday afternoon in Rosedale, Maryland, a suburb east of Baltimore. Several rail cars caught fire, sending a plume of black and gray smoke into the air that could be seen for kilometers, and an explosion rattled homes at least 800 meters away.
While local officials breathed a sigh of relief that the chemical fire didn't pose a greater risk to nearby residents, some areas of inquiry for investigators were beginning to take shape.
Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board said the collision occurred at a private crossing where the only marking was a stop sign. He said it wasn't clear why the truck was crossing the tracks or whether it was authorized to be there.
The truck driver, 50-year-old John J. Alban Jr., was in a serious condition on Tuesday night at Maryland Shock Trauma, a hospital spokeswoman said. Two CSX Transportation Inc train workers weren't hurt.
Even hours after the blast, a thick plume of black smoke could be seen for kilometers and had drifted and covered the eastern part of Baltimore. Later, the smoke had lightened considerably, changing from black to gray, and early yesterday it was announced that the fire was under control. CSX had moved unaffected cars away from the derailed cars.
In the third serious derailment in the US this month, a dozen or so rail cars - at least one carrying hazardous materials - went off the tracks on Tuesday afternoon in Rosedale, Maryland, a suburb east of Baltimore. Several rail cars caught fire, sending a plume of black and gray smoke into the air that could be seen for kilometers, and an explosion rattled homes at least 800 meters away.
While local officials breathed a sigh of relief that the chemical fire didn't pose a greater risk to nearby residents, some areas of inquiry for investigators were beginning to take shape.
Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board said the collision occurred at a private crossing where the only marking was a stop sign. He said it wasn't clear why the truck was crossing the tracks or whether it was authorized to be there.
The truck driver, 50-year-old John J. Alban Jr., was in a serious condition on Tuesday night at Maryland Shock Trauma, a hospital spokeswoman said. Two CSX Transportation Inc train workers weren't hurt.
Even hours after the blast, a thick plume of black smoke could be seen for kilometers and had drifted and covered the eastern part of Baltimore. Later, the smoke had lightened considerably, changing from black to gray, and early yesterday it was announced that the fire was under control. CSX had moved unaffected cars away from the derailed cars.
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