(The following appeared on the Fayetteville Observer website on August 17.)
COUNCIL, N.C. — A CSX Corp. train derailed Saturday morning in Bladen County, sending two railroad employees to the hospital with minor injuries.
The 138-car freight train was traveling through Council about 7:30 a.m. when it struck an empty coal train, on a siding that was waiting to pass.
The conductor and engineer on the waiting train were treated at Columbus County Hospital and released, said CSX spokesman Garrick Francis.
Ten cars and a locomotive on the freight train left the tracks when it struck the coal car. Two of the derailed cars were tankers carrying denatured alcohol to be processed into ethanol, Francis said.
One of the tankers split open and a small amount of the chemical leaked out. The leak was patched and CSX employees were to transfer the remaining alcohol into another container before removing the derailed cars.
The freight train was traveling from Hamlet and was about 20 miles from its destination in Wilmington when it left the track, Francis said.
The chemical is considered hazardous, but is not dangerous to inhale, according to Francis.
The derailment occurred in a rural area of Bladen and no residents needed to be evacuated.
Kay Worley, interim emergency services director for neighboring Columbus County, said her emergency personnel assisted Bladen officials.