United States: a train carrying chemicals derails and causes a huge fire

MISE À DAY

A train carrying a chemical has derailed in the northern United States, causing a huge fire and the evacuation of several hundred people, American officials and media said on Saturday. 

Multiple train cars were seen on fire in images posted on social media from East Palestine, Ohio, a town northwest of Pittsburgh. Smoke was seen rising from the blaze and filling the atmosphere https://t.co/ResXoRJFE4 pic.twitter.com/9b96QB0D85

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 4, 2023

The Friday night derailment of this 50-car train in East Palestine, Ohio, near the border with Pennsylvania, caused no casualties.

Several explosions were heard as cars continued to burn on Saturday, according to local media, despite the efforts of firefighters, slowed by the freezing of the water from tankers due to the polar cold that hit this part of North America this weekend.

This train was carrying vinyl chloride, a chemical used in the manufacture of plastic.

Some 2,000 residents, roughly half the population of East Palestine, were ordered to evacuate their homes. Local authorities have ordered all residents within a 1.6 km radius of the disaster site to vacate the scene.

“We can't say enough about the need to stay away from the scene” of the accident, wrote the mayor of East Palestine in a message posted on Facebook.