Hazardous cargo train derails in New York state but cars unbreached

[March 08, 2017]  (Reuters) - A CSX Corp freight train containing hazardous materials partially derailed in the area of Newburgh, New York, on Tuesday, but the cars with dangerous substances appear to have been unbreached, an official with the railroad company said.

Diesel fuel did leak on the ground from three locomotives that derailed, and CSX sent hazardous materials and environmental experts to deal with the spill, company spokesman Rob Doolittle said in an email statement.

Some of the 20 railroad cars that derailed were carrying the hazardous materials sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide and aqueous bisulfites, the statement said.

"There are still no reports of any leaks or spills of hazardous materials from those cars," it said.

The cause of the derailment, which occurred about 60 miles (97 km) north of New York City, is under investigation.

Two CSX maintenance employees who at the time were working in the area were transported to area hospitals for injuries that are not believed to be life threatening, Doolittle said in the email.

The train was traveling from Selkirk, New York, to Waycross, Georgia, according to CSX. Dozens of cars in the train stayed on the tracks.

The Times Herald-Record, a newspaper based in nearby Middletown, said the train derailed after striking a forklift being driven across the tracks, citing officials and witnesses.

A representative for the Orange County, New York, office of emergency management, which was handling the derailment, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The derailment occurred on the same day that a CSX cargo train struck a tour bus that officials say was stopped at a railroad crossing in Biloxi, Mississippi, in a collision that killed four people.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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