Clean-up begins after train with hazardous load falls into Yellowstone River

Several rail cars are immersed in the Yellowstone River after a bridge collapse near Columbus, Montana (Matthew Brown/PA)

Work is under way to clean up rail cars carrying hazardous materials that fell into the Yellowstone River in southern Montana after a bridge collapsed over the weekend, officials said.

Montana Rail Link is developing a clean-up plan and is working with its unions and BNSF Railway to reroute freight trains in the area to limit disruption of the supply chain, Beth Archer, a spokesperson for the US Environmental Protection Agency, said in a joint statement issued with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Montana Rail Link.