Freight cars ablaze as ethanol train derails over US bridge

Several rail carriages were on fire and dangling into a river after a freight train carrying ethanol derailed while crossing a bridge in south-west Pennsylvania early today.

Witnesses reported hearing explosions and seeing flames shoot as high as nearby trees.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, said Dom Bedolatti, the emergency hotline centre supervisor at the Beaver County Emergency Management Agency.

The train's midsection derailed while crossing the bridge, which is about 100ft high and half a mile long, Hayden said.

Eight carriages on the bridge were on fire, but none was near homes or businesses and authorities did not expect the fire to spread.

The eastbound, 80-carriage Norfolk Southern Railroad train was carrying ethanol when it derailed above the Beaver River at about 10.50pm yesterday, local time, said Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband.

“There are cars on the bridge, hanging off the bridge and in the water,” said Brian Hayden, spokesman for the Beaver County Commissioner’s Office and the county’s Emergency Operations Centre.

Hazardous materials crews were on the scene, he said.

Several homes and businesses in Beaver Falls and New Brighton were evacuated, emergency officials said. The site is about 25 miles north west of Pittsburgh.