Freight train derailment • No injuries; no hazardous materials released


Thursday, August 19, 2010
Community \| Obits \| Editorial & Columnists \| Society \| Sports \| Education \| Classified Ads \| Calendar of Events \| Features \| Newsbriefs \| Legals \| Archives \| Subscriptions \| Photo Gallery

Freight train derailment
• No injuries; no hazardous materials released

By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer

Photos by Sue Watson and Hugh Hollowell

Accident scene

Several cars left the track (above and below) Monday afternoon behind the Cargill facility just off Highway 178 in Byhalia.

A Burlington Northern Sante Fe train derailed on a section of track between Edwards Road and Rabbit Ridge Road at Byhalia Monday around 4:30 p.m.

Marshall County sheriff’s deputy David Cook. said about 10 or more cars were off the track and carried double deck, sealed shipping containers which were strewn about where cars had tipped. No one was injured in the derailment and no hazardous materials or gases were released, he said.

Responding to the scene were the sheriff’s department, the Byhalia Police Department and Byhalia Fire Department, and the Victoria Fire Department, he said.

Emergency management director Hugh Hollowell said the ambulance service responded but left after no injuries were determined to have occurred.

Hollowell said the tracks were expected to reopen by late Tuesday afternoon.

The derailment occurred on the section of track immediately north of the Cargill facility in Byhalia.

Hollowell said luckily, the derailed cars missed by about a foot hitting a syrup tank located on the railroad spur at Cargill.

All damages occurred on the railroad right-of-way, he said. The railroad police arrived on the scene within about 20 minutes of the time other agencies arrived and secured the scene and materials, according to Hollowell.

He said he saw only one container broken and another one that may have sustained a crack.

There were some hazardous materials on cars to the rear of the train which were not involved in the derailment, he said.

Report News: (662) 252-4261 or south@dixie-net.com
Questions, comments, corrections: south@dixie-net.com
©2004, The South Reporter, All Rights Reserved.
No part of this site may be reproduced in any way without permission.
The South Reporter is a member of the Mississippi Press Association.

Web Site managed and maintained by
South Reporter webmasters Linda Jones, Kristian Jones
Web Site Design - The South Reporter

Back | Top of Page