Train derailment in Texas leaks 'corrosive' product, prompts evacuation orders for 600 people; no injuries
A train derailment in Texas profficials to ask nearly 600 residents to evacuate their homes and will take days to clean up — but the local emergency management office reported no injuries.
A Kansas City Southern train derailed around 7:30 a.m. in Mauriceville, Texas, near the state's border with Louisiana. The derailment involved 25 cars, according to the Orange County Office of Emergency Management. Most of the cars were loaded; 10 were empty.
"Five confirmed tank cars were breached, four were leaking a petroleum product that did not represent a risk to the general population and the fifth involves a corrosive product that is being contained," the Office of Emergency Management said in a Facebook post.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office posted photos to Facebook that showed the cars piled up on the railroad. The photos had been shared more than 3,000 times as of Thursday evening.
A one-mile "exclusion zone," which initially impacted 600 residents, was set up while cleaning and containment were underway. By Thursday evening, the zone included only about 25 to 30 homes, Orange County Emergency Management Coordinator Joel Ardoin told USA TODAY.
Total cleanup will take about 48 to 72 hours, he said. A middle school and an elementary school in the area will be closed Friday due to clean-up efforts.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Train derailment in Texas leaks 'corrosive' product; no injures
