CLEVELAND, January 6 — A BLET member died Thursday morning when his train collided with a train that was stopped on a siding in South Carolina. The locomotive engineer’s name is being withheld pending notification of his family.
Four other deaths resulted from the accident.
County officials estimated that at least 170 people were treated for injuries when the two trains crashed here Thursday morning and spilled hazardous chemicals.
Members of the BLET Safety Task Force have been dispatched to Aiken County, S.C., to assist the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation.
There were at least three hazardous chemicals on the train, but officials were most concerned about the chlorine gas, which affects respiratory and central nervous systems. It can damage the throat, nose, eyes and can cause death.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford declared a state of emergency for Aiken County, activating the State Emergency Operations Center and making state resources available to the areas.
“Our job at the state level is going to be making sure that folks on the ground responding to this emergency have everything they need,” said Sanford, who was on his way to Graniteville to be briefed on the crash.
Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt will impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew for Graniteville from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. Friday.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control is conducting air sampling, agency spokesman Thom Berry said. Once those results are analyzed, emergency teams will go into Graniteville and conduct door-to-door well-being checks.
(Reporting from the Associated Press.)