Oil and propane train derails and catches fire in Canada

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/08/oil-propane-train-derails-canada

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A freight train carrying crude oil and propane derailed and caught fire in a sparsely populated region of Canada late on Tuesday, in the latest of a series of rail accidents involving dangerous cargo.

Around two dozen nearby homes were evacuated in New Brunswick in eastern Canada close to the border with the US state of Maine. Sharon DeWitt, emergency measures coordinator for the community of Plaster Rock, said it was unclear how big the fire was or whether anyone was hurt.

"To the best of our knowledge, only a few cars are involved and we are not exactly sure what those cars are carrying," she said in an interview. "We have evacuated homes in the immediate area."

A spokeswoman for Ambulance New Brunswick said no casualties were transported from the site.

Canadian National Railway spokesman Jim Feeny confirmed the eastbound train was carrying dangerous goods, including crude oil and propane.

"Some of those cars are in the area of the derailment," he said. "Whether they have derailed or are on fire, I do not have confirmation of that."

Feeny said the regularly scheduled freight train was headed to Moncton from central Canada when it ran into trouble around 7pm about 93 miles (150 kilometres) north-west of Fredericton in north-west New Brunswick.

The train's engineer and conductor, the only people on the train, were not hurt in the derailment, he said.

DeWitt said the train left the tracks about five kilometers (3 miles) from the village in a wooded area. She said there is one road near the site, which includes a number of homes.

There were unconfirmed reports of an explosion, but DeWitt said she was not aware on any blast at the site.

In July, 47 people were killed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, when a train carrying crude oil derailed. Another oil train derailed and exploded in North Dakota on December 30 and in November a 90-carriage oil train derailed in rural Alabama, erupting into flames that took several days to fully extinguish.

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