Train derails in Nevada, spilling vegetable oil, closing major highway

[June 20, 2019]    (Reuters) - A Union Pacific freight train derailed in Nevada on Wednesday, spilling vegetable oil and prompting the closure of an interstate highway.

The vegetable oil spilled out of one of the 22 derailed cars after the train went off the tracks shortly before 11 a.m. local time, the Elko County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook, citing Union Pacific Railroad officials.

"We had some vegetable oil and some diesel spill. There was nothing hazardous that was released or in the derailed cars," Union Pacific spokeswoman Kristen South said.

South said ammunition was being carried on the train but was not in the cars that derailed. She said there were no injuries in the derailment and that the cause was under investigation.

The derailment near Wells, Nevada, about 180 miles (290 km) west of Salt Lake City, Utah, prompted authorities to shut down Interstate-80 in both directions, the Nevada Department of Transportation said on Twitter.

A photo of the scene showed smoke rising from a jumble of rail cars.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; editing by Nick Zieminski and Phil Berlowitz)

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