No injuries or hazardous spills in 10-car train derailment in northern Minnesota, officials say
Jul 18, 2023, 7:13 AM | Updated: 7:58 am
COOK, Minn. (AP) — No one was injured and no hazardous material spilled when 10 Canadian National Railway cars derailed in northern Minnesota, officials there said.
The derailment happened just before 8:30 p.m. Monday in a rural, unpopulated area about 6 miles (10 kilometers) north of Cook, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters who responded found five of the derailed cars had tipped over, while the others remained upright.
Two of the cars contained liquefied propane and butane, but none appeared to have spilled, both the sheriff’s office and Canadian Railway said.
The sheriff’s office originally reported that nine cars had derailed, but Canadian Railway spokesman Jonathan Abecassis said Tuesday that 10 cars had derailed. The cause of the derailment in being investigated, Abecassis said, and cleanup was continuing Tuesday. Abecassis said he could not give an estimate of when the rail line would reopen to traffic.
“We would like to apologize for the inconvenience this may cause to local residents,” the railroad said in a statement.
The derailment comes less than two months after a Canadian Pacific Kansas City train derailed in the northwest corner of the state near the Canadian border. In that May 31 incident, 24 cars went off the tracks, but there were no reported spills or injuries.
urged railroads to take additional precautions to prevent derailments.
