posted on Oct, 23 2006 @ 03:18 AM
NEW BRIGHTON, Pa. -- After a massive train derailment left burning cars dangling over a river and forced hundreds of evacuations, local emergency
officials said the possibility of another explosion still exists and decided to issue a state of emergency. As of noon on Sunday, two rail cars were
still burning.
Crews have removed several of the cars from the wreck, but will continue working to remove the remaining cars form Beaver Creek and extinguish the
final two cars.
A Norfolk Southern train jumped the tracks on a bridge in New Brighton at about 10:40 p.m. Friday, sending 23 cars over a bridge, according to the
Beaver County Emergency Management Agency.
www.thepittsburghchannel.com...
Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate due to the threat of another explosion from one of the cars that was still on fire. Shelters were set up in
and around New Brighton away from the accident site. No one was injured when the train left the tracks at a little after 10:40 p.m. on Friday nite.
People evacuated from their homes were allowed to return to their homes for only a short time to pick up clothing, medicines, and other necessities.
The train that was involved in the crash was the eastbound 68Q, bound from Chicago, Illinois to New Jersey. Train consisted of eighty nine cars
carrying Ethanol, twenty three of which derailed. Upon derailment, the a couple cars ruptured and exploded. Norfolk Southern officials have also
rerouted traffic around the site via othe lines on the Norfolk Southern System or via other raillines of other railroads. The mainline through
Pittsburgh to Altoona sees fifty to sixty trains a day. Trains carrying everything from containers to chemicals can be found at any given time on the
line. The disruption of mainline service has also caused Amtrak to change the schedule of the 'Capitol Limited', which also uses the line from
Pennsylvania to Chicago. Amtrak is telling passengers of both the east and westbound trains to expect delays of up to seventy two hours to get around
the accident site.
Federal Authorities from the National Transpotation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash. The investigation itself has centered on a
broken rail found only yards from the crash on the span of the bridge. Federal Authorities have ruled out terrorism as a possible cause.
[edit on 10/23/2006 by gimmefootball400]