Freight train derails near Baltimore causing massive explosion
Baku, May 29 (AZERTAC). A freight train plowed into a garbage truck and derailed Tuesday near the US city of Baltimore, triggering a fire and a massive explosion that injured a driver and was reportedly felt for miles.
Television footage showed several train cars lying on their side and engulfed in flames, along with the mangled remains of the truck that may have tried to cross the tracks as the train passed.
Thick black smoke billowed out from some of the derailed train cars and stretched across the area, with authorities stressing that while some chemicals including a fluoride material were burning, they were not especially dangerous.
“They’re not toxic inhalants,” Baltimore County Fire Chief John Hohman told reporters, adding that 15 cars derailed and two were on fire and that officials would likely allow the fire to burn into the night.
CSX Transportation, the cargo carrier that operates the train, said in a statement that one of the cars that derailed contained sodium chlorate, which is classified by the US Transportation Department as a hazardous material.
“That car is not burning at this point in time,” Hohman said.
As a precaution, authorities ordered the evacuation of a 20-block area around the accident.
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