Over 40 homes evacuated after train carrying crude oil derails in Canada
No one was injured but about 45 nearby homes were evacuated when the train derailed near the village of Plaster Rock at about 7 pm local time, local officials and the railroad said.
The train originated in Toronto and was headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, which is about 300 km east of the site of the accident, said Jim Feeny, director of public and government affairs at CN. This latest derailment comes a little more than a week after a train carrying crude oil in the booming oil state of North Dakota derailed and exploded.
A series of disastrous derailments has reignited the push for tougher regulation. A surge in US oil production has drastically increased the number of oil trains moving across the continent as pipelines fail to keep up with growing supply.
In Tuesday’s accident, 15 cars and one unmanned locomotive appeared to have derailed, mostly toward the the rear of the train, including four loads of propane and four loads of crude oil, said Feeny. ‘At this point, we cannot confirm that they’re involved in the fire. They are in the fire area. Because of the fire, emergency responders can’t approach too closely,’ he said.
The train had a total of 122 cars and four locomotives.
Feeny could not say what kind of crude oil the train was carrying and declined to say which customers were involved. Feeney said CN crews have begun arriving and senior executives were also en route.
Fire officials say the cars appear to have been mostly empty except for some propane residue, said Sharon DeWitt, emergency measures coordinator for Plaster Rock.
The train originated in Toronto and was headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, which is about 300 km east of the site of the accident, said Jim Feeny, director of public and government affairs at CN. This latest derailment comes a little more than a week after a train carrying crude oil in the booming oil state of North Dakota derailed and exploded.
A series of disastrous derailments has reignited the push for tougher regulation. A surge in US oil production has drastically increased the number of oil trains moving across the continent as pipelines fail to keep up with growing supply.
In Tuesday’s accident, 15 cars and one unmanned locomotive appeared to have derailed, mostly toward the the rear of the train, including four loads of propane and four loads of crude oil, said Feeny. ‘At this point, we cannot confirm that they’re involved in the fire. They are in the fire area. Because of the fire, emergency responders can’t approach too closely,’ he said.
The train had a total of 122 cars and four locomotives.
Feeny could not say what kind of crude oil the train was carrying and declined to say which customers were involved. Feeney said CN crews have begun arriving and senior executives were also en route.
Fire officials say the cars appear to have been mostly empty except for some propane residue, said Sharon DeWitt, emergency measures coordinator for Plaster Rock.