10 railcars derail in Field Township near Cook
No one was injured and no hazardous material spilled when 10 Canadian National Railway cars derailed in northern Minnesota.
A Canadian National Train derailed late Monday evening leaving ten cars off the tracks in Field Township, just six miles north of Cook, Minnesota. Five of the derailed cars had tipped over, while the others remained upright. Officials state no leaks or spills were observed and there is no danger to the public.
No one was injured.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s deputies and the Cook Fire department responded to the call at approximately 8:20 P.M.
Two of the rail cars contained hazardous material in the form of Liquefied petroleum gas; 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 cars derailed in a rural and non-residential area.
St. Louis County Emergency Management was also on scene assisting with the derailment.
This derailment comes less than four months after a BNSF train derailed in southwest Minnesota and forced the evacuation of a small town after several ethanol cars leaked and caught fire. That March 30 crash caused roughly $1.9 million damage to the tracks and rail equipment and forced about 800 people in Raymond to leave their homes for several hours.
This story has been updated to note that ten railcars had derailed. Early reports said there were nine. The Associated Press contributed to this story.