SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — About 20 cars of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed near Springfield Saturday night, the second derailment of a company train in Ohio in a month, officials said.
But unlike the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, a company spokesman said there were no hazardous materials on board the train, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
The train, which had no passengers, derailed around 5 p.m. Saturday on State Route 41 near the Clark County Fairgrounds, the Dispatch reported. Springfield is located approximately 46 miles (74 km) west of the state capital of Columbus, Ohio.
The 20 cars of the 212-car train derailed during the southbound trip, a Norfolk Southern spokesman said.
The 20 cars of the 212-car train derailed during the southbound trip, a Norfolk Southern spokesman said.
Shawn Heaton told the Springfield News-Sun that he was waiting at the intersection as the train passed through the intersection and was filming the start of the derailment.
“I was right there playing on my phone and then I heard a loud bang. And when I heard the loud bang, I started recording,” Heaton said. “When I heard the bang, all sorts of debris and metal came out from under the cars and that’s when I started recording and you could see them jumping off the tracks.”
The Clark County Emergency Management Agency asked residents within 300 yards of the derailment to take shelter, but the agency said it had not issued formal evacuation orders.
In an update at 8:50 p.m. EDT, the agency said officials were working to ensure no hazardous materials were involved.
On February 3, 38 cars of a Norfolk Southern freight train from East Palestine to Northeast Ohio near Pennsylvania derailed and several cars on the train carrying hazardous materials caught fire.
Although no one was injured, nearby neighborhoods in both states were put at risk. The incident prompted the evacuation of about half of the town’s roughly 5,000 residents, an ongoing multi-governmental emergency response and lingering concerns among villagers about long-term health impacts.
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