A freight train derailed near Washington DC causing “hazardous material” to leak into the surrounding area.
Advertisement
At 6:40 a.m. on May 1, a CSX train traveling from Cumberland, Md.to Hamlet, N.C. derailed approximately 10 cars near 9th Street and Rhode Island Ave. near the Rhode Island Ave.
The fire department did not order evacuations around the site of the accident, which happened about 5km from the White House near the elevated Rhode Island Avenue station.
Maryland transportation officials said the MTA Commuter Bus plans to add additional service to the 505 line from the Hagerstown area and 515 bus line from Frederick. The mayor said Amtrak’s Capital Limited service, which runs daily between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, now is unavailable.
He said: “It looks like our guys have got this pretty well contained”.
Doug Buchanan, spokesperson for the D.C. Fire Department, told news channel NBC Washington that over ten cars overturned near the Metro station at about 7:00 A.M. and emergency responders were working to contain a leak.
CSX Corp said its workers are at the scene, and no injuries have been reported.
According to local media, nine cars of the train derailed, and at least three of them are leaking hazardous material.
Chris Vellum who lives nearby and his window looks directly over the tracks.
A hazmat investigation is underway after a CSX train derailed on Sunday morning. Officials advise Metro riders to use the Green Line service as an alternative. Photos tweeted by D.C. Fire and Emergency after the derailment showed cars in a zigzag line across the tracks. So I’m not even used to hearing trains. It carried 175 cars, 94 of them loaded with mixed freight, CXS spokeswoman Kristin Seay said.
Advertisement
This is a developing story, stay with WJZ and CBS Baltimore for the latest.
